Backcountry Bucks

   Today was a washout. Unfortunately, I had the day scheduled off and couldn't change it. It was raining cats and dogs this morning, so I didn't even venture outside until late morning. I tried catching up on a lot of things that required my attention    This afternoon the rain tapered off and turned into a drizzle and stayed that way until it got dark. I decided to go into the area I hunted on Friday because I found a big, fresh scrape there and wanted to sit on it. Since I've never hunted there, I put a lot of cameras in there to get intel for the year to see if it would be worth my time in the future. That's the only thing I use cameras for anymore.    However, this afternoon made me realize why I've gone away from using cameras. The camera was on the tree no more than 48 hours before it was stolen I rant about it every year, but I just can't understand why people can't leave shit alone that they don't own. The funniest part about the theft is that t...

   The rain came down in buckets today, and the temperature dropped almost 30 degrees in the matter of a day. The sleet and rain gave me about all I could take around 11 a.m., so I packed up and headed out of the woods to get dry.    After changing my clothes, I headed out for the afternoon and got drenched again. The weather has not been cooperating. I was almost certain I could kill a deer these few days, as that's why I took them off from work. Unfortunately, I can't control the weather, and the weather had dealt me a horrible hand. Of course, the forecast is idea for hunting as soon as I go back to work on the day after Halloween.    I'll keep plugging along and see what happens. We didn't see any deer today. The doctors are still trying to decided what to do with my mom It appears they will be operating on Wednesday. This has been incredibly stressful, and my mom is quite a fighter. I can't believe her strength. It's also taking a toll on my dad. ...

    With hunting comes a lot of frustration, and I experienced that to the fullest today. Deer hunting is a lot like any type of sport you watch. When you think you've seen everything or experienced all the sport has to offer, something always comes up that blows your mind.    Jimmy and I hunted together today. I looked into my database of memories and collection of pictures from when I used to run a zillion trail cameras and decided to base my choice on where to hunt on those things. If deer tend to move in an area year after year at the same time, there's usually a pretty good reason for it. So today I chose to go to a place to hunt where I've seen a lot of deer come to scrapes during the few days that surround Halloween. However, there hasn't been much scraping activity in the place the last few years.    About an hour after it got light, I thought I heard some leaves rustle, and knew I wasn't going to have very long to look at anything due to the amount...

  Sometimes I wish things like this could talk. I'm sure this old stand could tell many great stories. I found it on my way back to the truck today. It was in a perfect location. I'd like to know how many years ago it was built. It appeared that it was in a white birch tree with a ladder stick up it. The ladder was so old, some of the foot pegs had almost disintegrated.    It wasn't too terribly bad when I headed into the woods today. The heat has been out of control since Wednesday, and it topped off at 75 degrees today. Although it was extremely hot, I know deer are still on the move. It's that time of year when bigger bucks start moving in the daylight and begin hitting scrapes. These are killing days, no matter what the thermometer says. I have all of the data to prove it. If you find find an active scrape these last few days of October and first few days of November, it can be a gold mine. The weather doesn't play much of a factor. I had a handful of friends se...

    I decided to hunt in the morning before work, then give it a try after work, too. It was a perfect day to hunt, as we got the first frost of the year. I fully expected to see some deer moving this morning, but it just didn't happen. I had to be back to work at 10 a.m., so it didn't give me long to get the job done. I'm sure deer were moving someplace today.    In the afternoon, I met Jimmy, and we went on an excursion. He wanted to put a few cameras in a new area that he's been exploring, so I decided to go with him and see what it looked like. We were well after dark when we got back to the vehicles, and we never jumped a deer. The afternoon's temperature wasn't nearly as conducive to good deer hunting as the morning's. I won't be able to hunt again until Friday, and I'm off the entire day. 

   Today was a quick day for me, as I had to be out of the woods by 10 a.m. to attend the wedding. I sat until I had to leave and didn't see a thing. It was a pretty good morning, but the wind whipped around and made it impossible to feel confident.    Dad went to a spot he hunts once or twice every year. He put a camera in there this year and wanted to check it. When he arrived, the camera was on the ground next to the tree and someone had taken all of the batteries out of and tossed them in the leaves. Gotta love the great sportsmanship across different people hunting in the area. Every year, there's something new. It just blows my mind how people can't leave stuff alone. I actually can't even fathom it. It speaks volumes about true character.    Although I wanted to hunt on Monday or Tuesday, the wedding screwed my plans up for that. Most likely, I won't be back after it until Friday when I'm off for the day. It appear that a handful of 70-degree temps a...

    I wanted to go to a place I named Signpost Bog, but knowing I had to attend a wedding in the afternoon, I knew I wouldn't have time to get in and out of that spot. I decided to go to one of my favorite places near the road.    I didn't get much sleep, especially when the rain started pounding off the roof so hard I thought the roof was going to cave in. I even questioned getting up as I laid in bed listening to it. I suddenly flashed back in time to when we used to be in a tent listening to the same noise and praying that the seams of the tent wouldn't begin to leak. We experienced a few raging streams go ripping through the tent before we could dig a few trenches around it to prevent the water from invading our space. I do miss those days, but I also like the comfort of a solid structure with power around me.    Shortly before heading out, my father arrived at camp. He informed me the wedding I was attending was on Sunday, no Saturday. That suddenly pu...

    Although you can't see it in this picture, there's a large mineral lick here that the deer have torn up. I found out while walking on runway. I'd love to put a camera on it to see what goes on in this place, but I didn't have one and I don't feel like bringing one back there.    I knew today would be my last day of muzzleloading since tomorrow is the opener for Northern Zone in New York. There are still piles of leaves on the trees, and visibility is near nothing. We are still waiting for a frost. The leaves seem to be well behind normal, with some high leaves still on and not many bottom leaves displaying any change of color. Being such a wet summer, the leaves aren't dry and ready to fall yet. It will be interesting to see how it plays out.    When I headed out of the woods, I was disappointed that I didn't get an opportunity at anything with a musket. Something inside me was telling me this was going to be my year. 

    Last week, I tried crossing the creek in the picture, but it was all but impossible due to the raging current and big rapids. It's amazing what a week's time can do. Looking at it, I still can't believe it's the same body of water that prevented me from getting into this area.    I had every intention of scouting this area today, and I brought waders with me to get across the creek. I guess that was for not, as I didn't need them. Instead, I just walked across the dried up creek bed. As I ventured through the area, I found a fair amount of fresh buck sign. I came across some scrapes that were torn up, but I couldn't find anyplace the deer were feeding. I still haven't found that one place I'm looking for, but this area definitely holds promise. I think I could kill one here if I got the right combination of days at the right time. I can't predict the future, so I'll have sit back and see how things play out.  Here are a few scrapes I found.  ...

    Since we hunt as a team, Jim and I had our plans change in the early morning today. We had planned on going into an area after work to try our hand at killing a buck that has been teasing us. We never got a chance to do that because Brian killed it around 9 a.m. He was excited to get on the board with a small 8 during early muzzleloader season.    He hasn't been himself this year, and I hope this deer will bring him back to his normal self. Brian tends to keep things inside, and I've had a difficult time figuring out what is going on. He doesn't seem to have much interest in hunting -- or at least hunting with us.    After finding out the good news, Jim and I decided to scout a new area. We knew it would kick our ass, but we still decided to strap on our backpacks and give it out best shot. Last weekend, Jim met an 87-year-old man at a wedding, and the man shared a lot of information about a few new areas we've been trying, so we headed to one of his ol...

   This was my view for most of the day. The area I chose to hunt wasn't one of my better choices. My visibility was about 25 yards in all directions. Any deer would have to be right on top of me to see it. Although it was tough to see, I stuck it out until about 10:30 a.m. I heard one shot close to my location.    At the end of the day, I was disappointed when I looked back on the weekend. I had a lot higher expectations. The leaf cover right now is making it almost impossible to get into most areas I normally hunt. I have very few areas that are open, and most areas I hunt are loaded with beech whips, which don't lose their leaves until mid-November, if at all.    Once again, nobody saw any deer, and nobody saw much sign. I hope to get out a few times this week. I think sign will probably start picking up. We still haven't had a frost yet, so the leaves are heavy. In the southern Adirondacks, most of the leaves haven't even turned colors yet. 

  I got a new pair of boots this week, and today I put them to the test. I didn't like the fit when I pulled them out of the box, so I went to the store and got a few different types of insoles. After playing with them, I thought I had things figured out. Friday's hike was nice, but Saturday my feet paid the price and throbbed at the end of the day.     I put on about 7 miles for the day. The first half of the day treated me well. I was loving life. However, as the day wore on, my feet began to hurt. I thought it was because the boots were too big.    After getting home and really examining things, I think the insoles caused the boots to be too tight. I guess I'll give it another go next weekend and see what happens.    At the end of the day, I hadn't seen a deer. Jimmy, Dad and Caleb stayed at camp. The only person who saw a deer was Caleb, and he saw it around 11:30 a.m. The weather was nice today. It was in the low 40s in the early morning and ...

    I was lucky enough to get out of work a little early today. It allowed me to check an area out I haven't been to since last season. My main goal was to figure out if there were any acorns on the forest floor. Four miles later, I learned the acorns hadn't fallen in this particular area this year.    When acorns don't fall in this area, there's usually not a whole lot of action. I most likely won't be returning to this spot this year. In my travels, I did find a few places where a good buck had hit some trees. It did make me aware that a good one is roaming this piece of woods, so while I haven't ruled it entirely out, it will be one of my last options. 

    The time is surely upon us. With every passing day, I can feel it coming. Then, it will be gone in the snap of a finger... not lasting more than seven weeks. I will cross streams, climb mountains, sneak through swamps and hope for a fleeting chance at a buck. In the end, it won't matter whether I succeed because every day I'm in the woods is a success.    I hunted today for a few hours. I just don't seem to be into it yet, as I'm not a fan of hunting in northern New York with a bow. It saddens me in some ways because I used to live for any moment I could hunt. Now, I pick my days and go out occasionally. I think all of the success in the Midwest has probably led me to where I am, but I can't be certain.    I decided to go behind Dad's place to try my hand. As I neared the area I wanted to sit, I spotted a big doe feeding. I spotted her before she was alerted to my presence, so I tucked into some brush and watched closely. Within a few minutes, I saw ano...

      I chose to stay out of the woods last week due to the extreme heat. With every day in the 80s, I felt it was more important to get things in order before my daily quest begins in full force. However, after the drenching rain brought cooler temperatures on Saturday, I decided to head into the woods with my buddy Jimmy on Sunday.    Although we had a good plan for the first few hours of the morning, we didn't plan anything beyond that. We figured we would take things on as the day progressed. We also agreed that we would take any big doe or buck that might wander past us. With barely any venison in the freezer, we figured we would make good on it if the chance presented itself.    I uploaded the picture at the beginning of this because I couldn't get it to upload with the last entry. That's the rub I found last weekend. Hopefully, I get a look at the guy who made it.    Our morning sit was uneventful for the most part, but Jimmy did have ...

 Today was opening day of Southern Zone bow in New York. I decided to try some suburban hunting in Albany. It's been a long time since I've done any hunting around houses. It was difficult to get used to seeing people in their lawns and watching people walk up and down the road. I could also see into a few houses, which gave me an uncomfortable feeling. Stuff like that never bothered me when I was younger, but it felt awkward today.    I can tell you I wouldn't be doing it if I didn't have a chance at killing a good buck. There are a few of them roaming around that the landowner told me about, so I decided to give it a whirl. The 80-degree day didn't help matters, as I didn't see a deer.    This evening will probably be my last hunt for this week. I have too many things to do and the forecast is calling for record-breaking heat, almost reaching 90. In my old age, I've learned to hunt smarter rather than harder. 

  Jimmy and I headed in two different directions this morning. We both had the same idea in mind. We would sit as long as we could, then do some walking around. I've always found it difficult to sit still when I go out the first few days of every season. I'm not sure why, but I feel like I want to walk all over the place. It might be because of the warm weather and inability to see very far in the woods. I'll never truly know why I have this problem early on, but I don't have a problem sitting all day as the season progresses.    I managed to sit still until about 9:30. After wandering around for a bit, I located a nice, fresh rub that got my heart pumping. It made me imagine what might have left it behind. I'm sure it was a big buck, and the find made me know I was in a good area. I plan on hunting the area during the week of muzzleloading season, so maybe I'll get a look at him.    Jim found a few places where the runways were pounded into the mud. It appeared...

   I made my way into the woods today in the early afternoon. I had a few things I wanted to check out before meeting my buddy Jimmy to hunt in the evening. I made quick work of retrieving some climbing sticks I had left in the woods about a month ago. Although I considered hunting in the area, I changed my mind due to the limited number of acorns in the area. The deer just weren't around like I thought they would be.    After pulling the sticks, I quickly raced to meet Jimmy. We would have a few hours to cover some ground to see if we could find a few places to sit in the morning. As we wandered through the woods, we came across a few places where oaks had been dropping nuts, but nothing reached out to me and told me to sit there.    With that being said, I decided to go into another area the next day to see if there was any activity. Although it feels like I'm rushing around to cover a lot of ground, I know that not many deer move too terribly far right n...

   Today was the first day of Northern Zone archery here in New York. Although I had a lot of things going on, I decided to go hunting with my buddy Chris Hall. We made a food plot for him at my dad's house, so it's easy for him to get in and out of. I can drive him right to the blind and get him into it without too much of a hassle. Being in a wheelchair creates its own host of problems, but he never complains and we work together to make sure he gets some quality time in the field.    After dropping him off around 3, I headed to a spot I go every year early in the season. Shortly after settling in, I spotted a doe making its way toward me from the bottom of the hill. When it got behind the tree I was sitting in, it got a little nervous. Although it didn't know what was going on, it was definitely on edge. After she wandered into the bushes, I took a sigh of relief.    A short time later, I saw two fawns, which I surmised were the doe's fawns that I had se...

 Due to a few problems with my website, it's currently impossible to post any blog entries on the Hunting Journal tab. Therefore, I decided to move the blog onto this platform. I know I will lose many people due to the inability to post the new location on the website. If any of you have followed it in the past, I encourage you to link to this blog, share with your friends who have followed it in the past, and come here for whatever it is you might like to see.    Hopefully, I can stay on top of it as the year progresses. I believe it will be easier for me to do it on this platform. Any comments are welcome.