duckhunt
Well-known member
Great stuff
Fall 2019 Iowa Deer and Turkey
- Thread starter Pucky Freak
- Start date
Pucky Freak
Well-known member
Monday afternoon
Attempt to ambush a gobbler with my bow. On the way in bumped a fawn and a 3-year-old buck. Hard to avoid as the turkey spot is a mile hike which passes through deer bedding areas. Once I got there I tucked into a deadfall to await Mr. Tom. Over the next 2 hours I had many animals come within 30 yards: a doe, 2 squirrels, a chipmunk, several songbirds, a red-tailed hawk, 2 rooster pheasants, and a gobbler. An eventful night for wildlife TV, but hard to separate the different animal sounds from one another. The doe was quartering away at too sharp of an angle for a shot, and the gobbler saw my beanie move when I turned to look at him, and he turned tail and was gone fast. In the pic below the doe had walked in from the left, and the tom took off through the trees directly away from me.
Tuesday night
Perfect wind to try and ambush the doe I had hit in the scapula. Found a good place to conceal myself at the base of an oak and waited for the deer to show up. The first pic is where the deer sometimes cross right to left, and the second pic is the path they can take if they opt to walk up the hill. Not a deer to be seen that night though.
Wednesday night
Ventured over to the other private track I hadn't hunted this year yet. Corn is still in, and tough to approach and see. There was a highway of deer tracks along one field edge, and corn was completely munched up to 10 rows in some places. Set up on the ground where I could shoot two different lanes. The first pic is towards the field edge, and the second pic is a creek bed that crosses the path to my stand. Heard some animal noises close, but never could tell what was making them.
Thursday night
Sat my public ground stand pictured on Oct 12th. A doe walked by at 18 yards, but on the other side of the fence on private. About a half hour later a fawn came from the opposite direction along the fence and appeared to bed. Just after nightfall I could hear a buck grunting while moving on the same path as the doe. I snort wheezed and got his attention. He came in but stopped at the fence. Tried some soft grunts and bleats directed away from him, but he was not fooled. It was too close and he could not see any deer making the noises. After dark when I climbed down he and the fawn blew out of there. I wasn't previously aware of the deer highway on the private side of the fence. This spot is not going to work, so I'll be moving the stand.
Friday night
Hunted one of my blinds in the rain. A young buck walked in silently, and blew out from about 12 yards after he saw me move. The fawn whose doe I had killed earlier in the week came in to feed for about 30 mins. Twice it walked up to a shooting lane, and twice I drew back, but each time it turned around and went elsewhere.
Saturday morning
Just an hour and a half to hunt today, so chose the edge of a picked bean field close to home, and hunted from the ground. Had a little forky walk past at 20 yards, a doe at 50, then a 2-year-old 6-point with a swollen neck at 5 yards. The second buck was very aggressive towards the first - grunting, hair bristling, and stiff-legged walking, all 10 yards from where I sat. I regret not bringing my camera! It was right at shooting light and they were slightly uphill, so the view was their silhouettes from their toes to their tines against a clear sky.
Attempt to ambush a gobbler with my bow. On the way in bumped a fawn and a 3-year-old buck. Hard to avoid as the turkey spot is a mile hike which passes through deer bedding areas. Once I got there I tucked into a deadfall to await Mr. Tom. Over the next 2 hours I had many animals come within 30 yards: a doe, 2 squirrels, a chipmunk, several songbirds, a red-tailed hawk, 2 rooster pheasants, and a gobbler. An eventful night for wildlife TV, but hard to separate the different animal sounds from one another. The doe was quartering away at too sharp of an angle for a shot, and the gobbler saw my beanie move when I turned to look at him, and he turned tail and was gone fast. In the pic below the doe had walked in from the left, and the tom took off through the trees directly away from me.
Tuesday night
Perfect wind to try and ambush the doe I had hit in the scapula. Found a good place to conceal myself at the base of an oak and waited for the deer to show up. The first pic is where the deer sometimes cross right to left, and the second pic is the path they can take if they opt to walk up the hill. Not a deer to be seen that night though.
Wednesday night
Ventured over to the other private track I hadn't hunted this year yet. Corn is still in, and tough to approach and see. There was a highway of deer tracks along one field edge, and corn was completely munched up to 10 rows in some places. Set up on the ground where I could shoot two different lanes. The first pic is towards the field edge, and the second pic is a creek bed that crosses the path to my stand. Heard some animal noises close, but never could tell what was making them.
Thursday night
Sat my public ground stand pictured on Oct 12th. A doe walked by at 18 yards, but on the other side of the fence on private. About a half hour later a fawn came from the opposite direction along the fence and appeared to bed. Just after nightfall I could hear a buck grunting while moving on the same path as the doe. I snort wheezed and got his attention. He came in but stopped at the fence. Tried some soft grunts and bleats directed away from him, but he was not fooled. It was too close and he could not see any deer making the noises. After dark when I climbed down he and the fawn blew out of there. I wasn't previously aware of the deer highway on the private side of the fence. This spot is not going to work, so I'll be moving the stand.
Friday night
Hunted one of my blinds in the rain. A young buck walked in silently, and blew out from about 12 yards after he saw me move. The fawn whose doe I had killed earlier in the week came in to feed for about 30 mins. Twice it walked up to a shooting lane, and twice I drew back, but each time it turned around and went elsewhere.
Saturday morning
Just an hour and a half to hunt today, so chose the edge of a picked bean field close to home, and hunted from the ground. Had a little forky walk past at 20 yards, a doe at 50, then a 2-year-old 6-point with a swollen neck at 5 yards. The second buck was very aggressive towards the first - grunting, hair bristling, and stiff-legged walking, all 10 yards from where I sat. I regret not bringing my camera! It was right at shooting light and they were slightly uphill, so the view was their silhouettes from their toes to their tines against a clear sky.
Pucky Freak
Well-known member
Sunday morning was a bit of a fiasco. I decided to set up on the ground along a known travel corridor near my stand on private. I ended up bumping a bedded deer on the way in. Then when I was getting settled in I jabbed my right eyeball into some branches. I saw flashes of light and gave myself a nasty red gash on my sclera. The wind blew every which way and I saw no animals.
Pucky Freak
Well-known member
Today I hunted all day. I planned to do some still hunting and calling on public. I called in a forky to 20 yards and rattled 2 coyotes to 10 yards.
I met another hunter afield - Jim, from Wisconsin. We exchanged some info about animals and I wished him luck. About 90 minutes later we crossed paths again and he was jumping with excitement. He said he had a buck chase a doe into his lap and he made a good shot on the "huge!" buck. I offered to help pack it out and he said sure.
Over the next 3 hours I helped him find the deer, take a hero pic, cut it up, and then since he was an older guy, I hauled out all the boned in meat while he carried the cape, skull, and bones/hide. I got quite the workout with my pack being about 120 lbs! Jim was a really fun guy to talk with. He'd killed all the North American big game species I had time to ask him about and was full of great outdoor stories.
He thanked me about 100 times over for helping and I told him I hoped he'd return to hunt Iowa whitetails when he could draw again in 4 years and he said he would for sure.
Just a few of the interesting things about Jim:
-blue collar worker who did OT and side jobs to fund dozens of amazing hunts over the years.
-none of his gear was name brand or even new. He looked like he raided Salvation Army to outfit his trip, yet he was so skilled the lack of primo gear was irrelevant.
-he doesn't use computers or smartphones. I was mindblown on how he figured out draw strategies, scouting, and Intel with nothing more than calling people up and looking at paper maps.
-he chose to hunt public for Iowa deer despite easily being able to go guided. I asked him about this and he talked a lot about his passion for public land hunting, public access and shared natural resources.
Before we parted ways he said, "You know, we're all in this together." He was referring to public land stewardship and public land advocacy. He was making the case that instead of public land hunters competing against one another, it makes more sense for them to take every opportunity to help one another out and celebrate each other's successes, because we all own the land and pay for its use through tag fees. Not just that, but it's future rests on our intentional involvement. It was a profound statement. I want to be Jim when I grow up.
I met another hunter afield - Jim, from Wisconsin. We exchanged some info about animals and I wished him luck. About 90 minutes later we crossed paths again and he was jumping with excitement. He said he had a buck chase a doe into his lap and he made a good shot on the "huge!" buck. I offered to help pack it out and he said sure.
Over the next 3 hours I helped him find the deer, take a hero pic, cut it up, and then since he was an older guy, I hauled out all the boned in meat while he carried the cape, skull, and bones/hide. I got quite the workout with my pack being about 120 lbs! Jim was a really fun guy to talk with. He'd killed all the North American big game species I had time to ask him about and was full of great outdoor stories.
He thanked me about 100 times over for helping and I told him I hoped he'd return to hunt Iowa whitetails when he could draw again in 4 years and he said he would for sure.
Just a few of the interesting things about Jim:
-blue collar worker who did OT and side jobs to fund dozens of amazing hunts over the years.
-none of his gear was name brand or even new. He looked like he raided Salvation Army to outfit his trip, yet he was so skilled the lack of primo gear was irrelevant.
-he doesn't use computers or smartphones. I was mindblown on how he figured out draw strategies, scouting, and Intel with nothing more than calling people up and looking at paper maps.
-he chose to hunt public for Iowa deer despite easily being able to go guided. I asked him about this and he talked a lot about his passion for public land hunting, public access and shared natural resources.
Before we parted ways he said, "You know, we're all in this together." He was referring to public land stewardship and public land advocacy. He was making the case that instead of public land hunters competing against one another, it makes more sense for them to take every opportunity to help one another out and celebrate each other's successes, because we all own the land and pay for its use through tag fees. Not just that, but it's future rests on our intentional involvement. It was a profound statement. I want to be Jim when I grow up.
Pucky Freak
Well-known member
Tried still hunting another public spot this morning. No wind, and just a few minutes after heading out I could hear turkeys talking. Lots of yelps and clucks and even a gobble. I made off towards their direction and once within about 150 yards it sounded like there were many of them in or near an unpicked bean field. I crept in as close as I dared along the field edge, and I could hear two so close I could discern the rustling of their feet, maybe 35 yards away. I had run out of cover, so I mimicked their soft yelp to see if I could get one to poke it's head around to investigate. Instead, the reaction was alarm and danger, as I heard an excited flap as they ran off towards the rest of the group. I cautiously walked out into the field and tried to locate them. When I was about 1/3 of the way across it sounded like they had entered the timber, so I continued to the opposite field edge.
I was wrong - they were all in the middle of the field and 25 turkeys erupt and fly off in different directions. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, as creeping up on a large group of turkeys with a bow with no wind through a field of 16" tall crunchy dry and leafless bean stalks covered in ice to get within 20 yards is...hard. I could now get between the separated turkeys and trick them to coming towards my call as they regrouped. Twice I set up between turkeys and started calling, and twice several turkeys fled in terror instead of calling back or coming in. This was clearly not working. I started making my way back to the truck through an open area and paused for a minute, only to hear another turkey take off from a small tree behind me that I had just walked under. That bird had been in full view no more than 5 yards above my head! Why I did not see it? Well...that's no place for a turkey to be, so I guess I didn't bother to look
Note to self: skip the archery turkey tag in 2020 and buy two fall turkey gun tags next year
I was wrong - they were all in the middle of the field and 25 turkeys erupt and fly off in different directions. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, as creeping up on a large group of turkeys with a bow with no wind through a field of 16" tall crunchy dry and leafless bean stalks covered in ice to get within 20 yards is...hard. I could now get between the separated turkeys and trick them to coming towards my call as they regrouped. Twice I set up between turkeys and started calling, and twice several turkeys fled in terror instead of calling back or coming in. This was clearly not working. I started making my way back to the truck through an open area and paused for a minute, only to hear another turkey take off from a small tree behind me that I had just walked under. That bird had been in full view no more than 5 yards above my head! Why I did not see it? Well...that's no place for a turkey to be, so I guess I didn't bother to look
Note to self: skip the archery turkey tag in 2020 and buy two fall turkey gun tags next year
CactusPepper
New member
Sounds awesome.
TheBenHoyle
Well-known member
I've been there trying to sneak up on a flock of turkeys with a bow. I can't say it is easy, but I am hooked on the idea that if I ever get it to work it will be so sweet.
For 5 hours, I had a blast playing cat and mouse with the turkeys with my gun this fall. I'm very tempted to try it with the bow. It helped that I was in an area overrun with them, so opportunities were constant. In the end though, I sat my butt down and ambushed one.
Pucky Freak
Well-known member
Wednesday AM: In the stand and a familiar doe and her fawn come flying in. Instead of going to their bedding area, they crawl through a barbed wire fence into some really thick stuff. About a half hour later Mr. Young Buck comes in following their trail. He got his antlers caught on the fence a few times before finding a way in after them.
Pucky Freak
Well-known member
Today is a day I've been anticipating for some time. It was 13 degrees at sunrise and with the rut heating up, I planned a long morning sit on the stand on the 20 acres of private I mentioned in the OP. I had left this spot undisturbed until now. Right at shooting light I saw a deer walking away from me at 50 yards. I gave a grunt and a snort wheeze in case it was a buck. This deer did not come in, but a mature doe came in from the other direction to 8 yards. No shooting lanes where she was, and she eventually winded me and ran off. Tried some blind rattling and calling at 9 AM, but no dice. I later saw the first deer and it was a yearling doe.
At 10 AM I packed up to leave and on the way out I see: A ladder stand on the same property 30 yards from my stand, a trail cam, and dozens of trees chainsawed to open up the area. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! I missed all this walking in in the dark. I called the landowner and asked if he had given anyone else permission to hunt this spot. He said no. I reported to him what I saw. He said in past years sometimes people have snuck in to poach, but he doesn't know who they are. I asked if he was OK if I removed the equipment from his property, and he said he wasn't sure about that. I got the impression that while he didn't like the situation, he would also rather not be involved. I said thanks for your time, and ended the conversation.
Heading back in about an hour with some tools. The stand and the trailcam are coming down, with the SD data deleted. Plan to leave the equipment in a pile with a note: "Poaching and trespassing are against the law. Kindly remove your belongings. Thank you"
At 10 AM I packed up to leave and on the way out I see: A ladder stand on the same property 30 yards from my stand, a trail cam, and dozens of trees chainsawed to open up the area. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! I missed all this walking in in the dark. I called the landowner and asked if he had given anyone else permission to hunt this spot. He said no. I reported to him what I saw. He said in past years sometimes people have snuck in to poach, but he doesn't know who they are. I asked if he was OK if I removed the equipment from his property, and he said he wasn't sure about that. I got the impression that while he didn't like the situation, he would also rather not be involved. I said thanks for your time, and ended the conversation.
Heading back in about an hour with some tools. The stand and the trailcam are coming down, with the SD data deleted. Plan to leave the equipment in a pile with a note: "Poaching and trespassing are against the law. Kindly remove your belongings. Thank you"
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TheBenHoyle
Well-known member
Oh man, that's rough.
Pucky Freak
Well-known member
Set up on the ground this morning. Had 2 does and their fawns exit the timber and come into view behind my left shoulder. I had last seen them on Oct 19th. I waited several minutes until all their eyes were hidden, then shifted my body. The younger doe saw, and pegged me. I sat statue-still over the next 10 minutes as she stomped and stared, and the other 3 deer continued to mill about. Finally she wandered off, and the bigger doe walked right towards me to 15 yards with no cover in between. She eventually wandered off to my left, obstructed by a tree. I waited until her fawn followed her, and then I drew back quickly. The only thing the deer could see was the arrow being drawn back, but that was enough - they spooked and took off into the timber.
Pucky Freak
Well-known member
Also almost stepped on a skunk on the way in. Just 8 ft away, and it took off into the brush. Very lucked not to have been sprayed!
BrentD
Well-known member
What is it with skunks in Iowa this year? My golden got hit today. Second time this year after 30 yrs of no skunk issues at all.
TheBenHoyle
Well-known member
Skunks are bad in Illinois this year too. I think it is the wet conditions. I nearly stepped on one back in early October on my way in to a stand.
Pucky Freak
Well-known member
Stiff wind yesterday so headed to the CRP on public. Set up on the ground along a mowed strip between CRP and a patch of timber. There are 4 deer trails running between the 2 areas and I could cover 3 of them within bow range. Distant deer caught my attention, and I began watching them through the binos. Not 10 minutes after I had got in place a doe walked into my lap, but the noisy wind had covered her approach and she pegged me at 10 yards, then took off 
I continued to watch the distant deer, and 2 does turned into 4. With 40 minutes of shooting left, the temptation proved to great. I knew it would not be long before a buck showed up. I spent the next 25 minutes getting to within 100 yards of them, and kept my eyes peeled for the buck. He came running in to the does, sniffed around for about 3 seconds, then ran off. I gave a snort wheeze to stop him, with the idea of circling around downwind as he came in to investigate, but he swiftly ran downwind of me first and the gig was up.
I continued to watch the distant deer, and 2 does turned into 4. With 40 minutes of shooting left, the temptation proved to great. I knew it would not be long before a buck showed up. I spent the next 25 minutes getting to within 100 yards of them, and kept my eyes peeled for the buck. He came running in to the does, sniffed around for about 3 seconds, then ran off. I gave a snort wheeze to stop him, with the idea of circling around downwind as he came in to investigate, but he swiftly ran downwind of me first and the gig was up.
Pucky Freak
Well-known member
Forgot Saturday afternoon - walking and rattling on public. Had a deer circle around and wind me. Later found a weasel whose body wasn't cold yet. Sat the last hour in ambush and heard deer crashing around in thick brush, possibly chasing or fighting. I approached within 25 yards, and waited for one to show, and about a half hour later a doe pegged me when I looked up to watch some geese overhead.
Sat 4 hours Monday afternoon in 35 mph wind and 15 degree temps. There were deer tracks outside my blind from earlier in the day, but nothing showed up when I was there. Did enjoy watching the sunlight filter through the trees as snow fell.
My bow hunting days are winding down. Between family obligations, shorter days, and dwindling vacation time, I've got about 9 more partial days to hunt over the last 2 months of the season.
Sat 4 hours Monday afternoon in 35 mph wind and 15 degree temps. There were deer tracks outside my blind from earlier in the day, but nothing showed up when I was there. Did enjoy watching the sunlight filter through the trees as snow fell.
My bow hunting days are winding down. Between family obligations, shorter days, and dwindling vacation time, I've got about 9 more partial days to hunt over the last 2 months of the season.
Pucky Freak
Well-known member
This guy came from the bedding area towards the feeding area before sunrise today, possibly to intercept does. He was uphill at eye level to the stand, so had me pinned down. He stopped to urinate at 15 yards, then proceeded to walk away. He later paused and looked away to his right. As quickly as possible, I took off my mittens, clipped my D-loop, and drew back. Just as I finished drawing back he spun his head back around and kept walking. I did everything I could to make myself relax, which didn't work at all, but carefully lined up the pin and squeezed the release. He buckled and took off. He made a big loop around to the top of the next hill, then walked partway down the hill and bedded. Through the binos I could see he was in distress. His head began to sway left and right. He tried to stand up and failed twice, before getting up and stumbling further down the hill. He bedded again, and a few moments later his head fell. Just under 20 minutes after the shot he was dead. Arrow was dark red and looked to be a liver hit. I hit about 4 inches back of where I was aiming, but elevation was right on. Typical 8-point 3-year-old with inside spread just under 17". I'm glad to have passed on all the dinks earlier this season!
TheBenHoyle
Well-known member
WOOHOO! Great job. Glad you put it together.
MN_Bowhunter4
Well-known member
Awesome! Nice deer
