Kenetrek Boots

The best laid palns of mice and men are still subject to divine intervention......2024 edition

Another great day in the books. Started slow with the only thing for the morning being a 1.5 yo buck they quickly crossed through uphill from me about mid morning. 1200 comes and I'm ready to take a trip for chow when all he'll breaks loose. It was windy and hard to hear all day but there were some loud pops and cracks coming from behind me. I look around the tree long enough to see 4 deer running through thick stuff behind me.... all I could make out for sure was a small 6/8 basket rack. Now I'm staying. They run out of sound range but I'm primed. 10-15 minutes later the group comes running from directly behind me. A hot doe, followed by a shooter (but not huge) 8 pt with the basket rack trailing. I grunt but only the basket stop s, and just for a second. They run to my right up into the CRP. A couple minutes later I see another basket pushing ac doe in the CRP from a Rodham different direction. Not long after a final basket cruisers through sniffing. I sit most of the rest of the day waiting for a return that didn't happen. An hour or so left and a doe fawn comes in and eats all around my stand for a while. I head out and bust a mature doe that is already in the cut bean field eating.
 
It rained overnight so I slept in this morning. Went out at noon. Afternoon was warm and sunny. About 2 or so the wind picked up to the point where I was getting a little sea sick. Hardly even any squirrels about.....
 
Went out this morning with Casey's rig as I hadn't been able to zero mine last night. When I got home yesterday Joel and Casey took me out for veteran's day. We went to a brewery in Logansport and it was really nice.

Anyway, this morning I walk into the field I have to cross and there is a young but fairly nice buck still out eating leftover beans. I got to within about 75 yds before he hopped into the CRP. Another year or 2 and he will be nice. Other than him, zero in the morning.

I went in at lunch, had some chow with Casey and zero d my crossbow. Good to go. Back out I went and had a breezy, uneventful evening until about 20 min left of light. I had just blown a buck grunt series when I saw some movement to my left in some heavy brush about 80 yds. It was a yearling doe checking things out. She hung around for a few trying to figure things out. Then a mature doe came from the other way but didn't even show down... just kept walking. It got dark and of I went :) I am counting the days until gun season starts. On the earliest of years it would have been today. 😉
 
Today was slooooow. First thing this morning I caught 2 does move through the CRP above me ..... could just make them out. Then zero. Noon came and I went to put the safety rope up at the new stand, get gas in the truck and chow. Ended up having a great meal at a truck stop just a couple of miles away (brisket w/Mac n cheese wrap and fried 🍄). Back in the stand from 2 to dark (sans phone which I left in the truck) with no action. There was a doe on the field across the road as I left....2 more days of now season.
 
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The morning was gross and raining so Casey and I headed to White Castle for lunch once more. About 2 I was back in the stand as it was just misty at that point. Wet and warm at 50 something have not pannd out so far. Nothing doing in my part of the woods. Saw a few deer in a cut corn field down the road as I left. Ugh. Gonna be out all day tomorrow for the last of bow season.
 
Ok, I'll try again..
...sits. A makeshift ground blind behind a downed tree. With the morning I was treated to a beautiful sunrise. As time wore on I saw a few does moving through the CRP in thick enough areas that there was no shot. About 0900 a mature doe came out and stood where I DID have a shot in the open. Being as it was opening day I was cool with waiting on Mr Big enough...... when out of nowhere BOOM!!! I texted CPO "buck?" and he sends me a picture of a dead doe.....I'm like huh, this is what we're doing? I turned to take the doe to my left....as she walked into brush. Bugger. I was set for an all day sit and through the day got to see several flashes of deer that, due to the thickness of the CRP, were never up to die. 1500ish I catch movement to my right. I look to the field edge to see a mature doe and fawn in the open at 200-210 yds. I pull up the new rifle and just as I'm settling on her , a flash of white in my peripheral vision. I come off of the gun to see the smaller of the shooter bucks I saw during archery running and bouncing through the thick stuff after a doe. They make a big loop and head back into the woods. Back to the field and..... you guessed it.....off the doe there goes :( SON OF A!!!! A couple minutes later the pair goes running across the bean field out at about 350 into the neighbors property. A few more does running in the field....one of them was nice enough to stop broadside at 420 (with about a 20mi crosswind at the time) 😀 About that time.....BOOM again. Again I text "buck?" This time I get a picture if a lil 1.5 year old buck I had passed on numerous times this year? WTF? I am still a little surprised that, given that there are big bucks in the AO he used his buck tag on OPENING day on that.....BTFOM. The rest of the night was then getting those 2 taken care of.
 

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Given just how thick the CRP is proving to be, even from the elevated position, I decide to give that stand the morning and if nothing pans out moving to the woods stand again at lunch. Very similar morning except for this lil guy that came out about 3 yds behind me and meandered around in front for about 20 minutes. I was thinking to myself right before I got down at lunch that you can pretty much always catch something on the field edge at night. I had a turkey blind/screen and a chair....I'm gonna sit then in the middle of the bean field and cover the whole edge...50 to 180 yds.

Afternoon on the woods didn't yield anything other than the ever present bumper crop of bushy tails. I stop by CPOs spot to grab him and we had our to the middle of the field about 1645 (shooting light is just before 1800). We are just sitting quiet watching the light slowly fade. 1710 I catch movement to my right. It is 2 yearling does. I let CPO know (I have 2 doe tags and he has 1 left) and we maneuver for shots. At the angle he was out of it as he would have been shooting too close to a distant farm house.....I was totally clear. I didn't need to range as my new Weatherby has a 300 yds zero and this one was not even in the longer 180 yd corner. I settled and thought the shot.... dumped her. Her buddy stood around for a few seconds and I thought CPO was gonna get her..... still no angle and she hopped into the edge. With about 45 min left we decided to wait as deer do deer 🦌 things and come to fields. 1725 or so, out of nowhere, CPO shoots and I almost soil myself.....WHIFFFF. We are still waiting it out. Not 10 minutes later I catch movement to my far left. It was the buddy. I swing around (I'm using my Vortex optic tripod for a rest) have her chest, squeeze and she falls. Both my doe tags filled. :) 😀 We had them field dressed and were back at the Redman place in about 45 min. Due to the Temps I cut them up and got them in the cooler after a great dinner prepped by Casey.....she and Redman had been out as well....not my story to tell 😉
 

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Today was an all day sit. Morning in the woods, afternoon in the crp stand and then the last 1.5 hour in the field. First full day with no sightings I can remember....still dang warm. Front moving on tomorrow but I don't know if it will do anything on time. It is the last shot before we head north for the BIG SHEBANG!!!
 

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Well, Wednesday opened up hopefully as we had a deer in the field at arrival. Light was to low to tell what it was and only CPO had A doe tag still. We parked and then skirted the field edge through a low shot until we got to the last point of cover we would have. The deer was somewhere around 1-125 @ this point. I was in front and have CPO hand signals to stop and get down. I checked and we had 10 min until shooting light. A couple minutes go by and I hear "click, click, rack" .... the unmistakable sound of a magazine going in and a bolt cycling. I see the deer pick up it had and walk off into the CRP. 😞 I turned around in astonishment......WTF? The discussion that followed was basically "I forgot to load my rifle at the truck. " and " so THAT was the right time to make noise? Did you think about just using mine?" FFS.....
 
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Rest of the day was uneventful until the last hour when the weather turned to shine.....CPO saw one other deer briefly during the day. So ended my stay at home in Indiana. Went back to Casa Redman, got my stuff forgetful together and SP'd about 0630 Thursday. Snowed a little overnight and the drive was crappy all the way to Milwaukee. Got to Kevin's place, settled a bit and then we went to Schwarz's Supper club for what was one of the best steaks of my LIFE!!!! Friday we did some chores and errands..... now here I sit opening morning. 3 does and a turkey so far.. have a buck and does tag in my pocket. No drinks at all and does are safe today .
 

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