Bambi Whacking 2022-2023

[outrider58]

I have also had most of my success in October. I’ve heard about the October lull but have never really seen it.

It's mostly misunderstood.

 

[308Scout]

I finally got the blind out and up today. Heading out Saturday AM. These cooler mornings finally kicked my motivation into gear a bit.

 

[lazarus]

I finally got the blind out and up today. Heading out Saturday AM. These cooler mornings finally kicked my motivation into gear a bit.

View attachment 380375

Yeah I stuck my blind out after work today and then split half a cord of wood. I am taking a half day from work tomorrow. I’ll try to split the other cord, shower, change and sit in my blind for the afternoon. My wife bumped two does out of our front woods moving the dirt pile. I had a BIG doe and a big fork with a tiny fawn feeding in my side yard from about 6-6:40pm.

I am still not sure if I’ll shoot anything tomorrow. It’ll be warmer, but mostly I am waiting for a doe on its own I think. Yeah they are weened. Don’t know if that big does back eating right in front of my blind I’ll probably shoot it. There’s also a group with a fork, spike, 7-pt and a couple of does I saw a few days ago and three spikes and a doe that are regulars in the mornings and I see in the morning most mornings.

I’ll also hunt Saturday morning till around 8. Nothing by then I’ll pull up stakes for my daughters soccer game. I’ve made sure my wife won’t be pissed if I get a deer around there and she has to take her to soccer.

Failing tomorrow afternoon/evening or Saturday morning I’ll hunt some next weekend and then start getting out there regular. Too hot till then.

 

[lazarus]

And now there is a fork (I think the same one), three big mature does, a yearling and two fawns out there.

Seems like the earlier group of three went out and brought in the other 4, since they’d left for at least 15 minutes.

 

[Diesel-Dad]

So far just mercy kill. This guy didn’t look both ways before he crossed the road. Spotted him earlier last week with a group of bucks in the river. Hopefully we get to see his buddies later.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[lazarus]

Not so cool a day today. Also thank you thermacell. I had a fawn out by my blind at about 3:30. I then tried to sit in my blind, buts roasting in the sun, so I went back in for an hour and a half to let it start cooling and the sun to go down behind the trees and put it in the shade. It’s just barely tolerable sitting in it with long sleeves. I had to run back inside for a long sleeve shirt because the mosquitos were just too bad.

I came back out and my thermacell had finally chased them all away and no sign of a one in half an hour now.

Time to hope we don’t get an inopportune delivery, or my kids don’t come bother me

 

[lazarus]

Of course the instant I hit post and looked up, the MDS good luck hunting gators waived their magic wand and the deer were just poking their heads above the hill.

One note, I need to maybe examine my tacticam mounting as all it filmed was the flap of my blind.

10 deer. A fork, two huge spikes, a button (pretty sure a yearling? Or a very early season fawn), two huge mature does, a yearling doe with some messed up hair (maybe just shedding for a winter coat?) and three fawns still in spots. I waited a few minutes and took a shot on the button as I wanted one just right. Whiffed low.

Not sure if U touched the blind in the discharge or what caused it to go as low as it did. It was right on earlier in practice.

I recocked and waited till they all came back in 20 minutes later. Took another shot on the button again. This time it connected and they all ran off. He was dabbing the one front leg barely using it. Left good blood on the arrow and a wide spray in the Japanese stilt grass and tree he passed on the way in to the woods.

I’ve waited about 15 minutes. I am going to wait another 10 and then go start looking with my son. I’d be surprised if he went much beyond the crest of the hill with the other deer before dropping (I could hear him drop, but the stilt grass is quiet until it dies in a couple of months…and a ton of neighborhood noise right now)

Hopefully one for the butcher in a few.

And I’ll need to try out the shwacker tips later this season that I got end of last season and still have not tried.

 

[RRomig]

Congrats!
I used fixed and mechanical broad
heads on my compound bow. Both work great but I’ve found it easier to get the mechanicals flying more consistent with the speeds of the modern bows.

 

[Waingro]

Of course the instant I hit post and looked up, the MDS good luck hunting gators waived their magic wand and the deer were just poking their heads above the hill.

One note, I need to maybe examine my tacticam mounting as all it filmed was the flap of my blind.

10 deer. A fork, two huge spikes, a button (pretty sure a yearling? Or a very early season fawn), two huge mature does, a yearling doe with some messed up hair (maybe just shedding for a winter coat?) and three fawns still in spots. I waited a few minutes and took a shot on the button as I wanted one just right. Whiffed low.

Not sure if U touched the blind in the discharge or what caused it to go as low as it did. It was right on earlier in practice.

I recocked and waited till they all came back in 20 minutes later. Took another shot on the button again. This time it connected and they all ran off. He was dabbing the one front leg barely using it. Left good blood on the arrow and a wide spray in the Japanese stilt grass and tree he passed on the way in to the woods.

I’ve waited about 15 minutes. I am going to wait another 10 and then go start looking with my son. I’d be surprised if he went much beyond the crest of the hill with the other deer before dropping (I could hear him drop, but the stilt grass is quiet until it dies in a couple of months…and a ton of neighborhood noise right now)

Hopefully one for the butcher in a few.

And I’ll need to try out the shwacker tips later this season that I got end of last season and still have not tried.

That's awesome. Meat in the freezer is always good. I'm definitely getting the itch. Can't wait for temperatures to really drop

 

[lazarus]

Congrats!
I used fixed and mechanical broad
heads on my compound bow. Both work great but I’ve found it easier to get the mechanicals flying more consistent with the speeds of the modern bows.

And iffy hit. Turns out he was even smaller than I’d thought. So those mature does and spike/fork are a good size, but not giants. He musta been an early season fawn and I bet the small “yearling” doe with the group was his sister. They were of a size. Neither with spots.

Couldn’t have been more than 70lbs live weight. And probably closer to 60lbs. Arrow hit less than half an inch too far back. Hit rumen, straight through the liver, rear of one lung and just kissed the heart, but not enough to cut in to an artery or chamber.

Pretty good blood trail and then it got light, so I backed out as I got close to the bamboo where I figured he went to bed down. I waited an extra half an hour, about 15 after sunset and went back in before it was full dark. Found him laying down dead in the bamboo.

Right after the blood trail got light it got very heavy again with a bit of vegetative matter in it. A further 50yds and I got to the edge of the bamboo and I found him at the bottom of the hill next to the creek just in the bamboo still (about 20yds into the bamboo).

Based on the blood there, I think he ran in, laid down and died seconds later. There is a good splash of blood near him, but not enough that he was bleeding for long before he died. And he certainly left a ton of it all through the woods. He was probably dead within 5 minutes tops.

But I am glad I pulled back out just in case.

A warty little bastard. But probably tasty.

So two mental notes. Shoot a bigger deer even if I don’t particularly NEED the bigger deer in the freezer (I can always donate a deer if I still have the hunting itch and put a couple big deer in the freezer already. Or find a friend who wants it).

I also need to try out those swhackers instead of the NAP Spitfire. The spitfires definitely out a hurt one them when they hit, I am just not confident they are flying true. I might give them one more chance. I am willing to believe I just simply shot under this small little deer on my first shot. I was aiming low for a heart shot. When they are that little, the vital zones about 5” or so, not 9-10”. The second shot I think was close to being on other than maybe an inch off, but I am also pretty sure it deflected going through, which I haven’t seen before really. I am positive he was almost a perfect broadside and the arrow went through about 4” back from the entry (I think a rib knocked it off course).

Anyway, some excuses. It ended just fine. Patient paid off. More stuff to test the next couple of weeks and when I head back out, probably in October, I won’t be as choosy about what I shoot, other than making sure it’s not a fawn/button this time.

 

[308Scout]

Congrats on the meat in the freezer, Lazarus!

I made it out for a few hours this morning. It was warmer than expected, but not terrible. Only one small doe came in, but managed to surprise me. I was taking a quick break to check MDS and caught some movement in my peripheral vision. The doe came from behind and around my blind and stopped to peek in from about 3-4 yards away (this was the first that has ever come from that direction). It never knew I was in there, though. It just meandered and hung out in front of me for about 15 minutes. I wasn't going to take a shot at this one and was hoping she'd draw some others in. Alas, none followed.

 

[lazarus]

Sat down and tested my crossbow and bolts a bunch. This time with the swhacker practice head on there. POI was off compared to the NAP heads I was using. No surprise. BUT very accurate and repeatable. I then put a pair of hunting heads in to my bag. WOW! They hit less than a half inch off where the practice head was landing at 20yds.

My other observance, the crossbow is pretty repeatable for POI within my off hand skill level with it. But the bolts are not same POI as each other. At some point I’ll need to see if I can tune them with the nock a bit. They are within 1.5” at 20yds of each other. I did find one bolt was way off. It has a wrinkle in one fletching. It was about 3, 3.5” off at 20yds. I swapped it out for the bolt I had to super glue a fletching back on that had nearly ripped off. That sucker was DEAD center between the other two bolts I’d been using. And amazingly is the most repeatable of the bolts. That bolt nearly lost a fletching last year killing a doe.

So anyway, time to try the swhacker 2” heads. My crossbow, so far, seems to like them in terms of accuracy.

My only real concern with them, and it’s probably not a realistic one, is with only the two blades they might slip between vitals if they went in at just the right angle. But they have great reviews and I’ve had them highly recommended.

I do like them for practicing though. The practice head actually stops in my bag. The NAP practice head at 20yds was going straight through and burying to the fletching and typically getting caught in the foam. The swhacker practice head is truer to the hunting head for accuracy (by a fair amount it seems) and it also stops the bolt only half to three quarters of the depth through the bag and pulls out relatively easily.

The hunting head goes almost all the way through and buried up to the fletching. No surprise there.

 

[RRomig]

I’ve used rage two blade for 80% of my deer taken. They have always done more than enough damage to keep the tracking short. I find the arrows although very similar are not always identical. If I make up 12 I’ll shoot them and start marking them as to accuracy. There will usually be one or two that will never make a hunting trip.

 

[lazarus]

I’ve used rage two blade for 80% of my deer taken. They have always done more than enough damage to keep the tracking short. I find the arrows although very similar are not always identical. If I make up 12 I’ll shoot them and start marking them as to accuracy. There will usually be one or two that will never make a hunting trip.

I think I need to do a better job of that. I have the POA/POI arrow on the inside of my bow quiver where it’ll be first used.

When the bolts didn’t land true, it was always something I knew as the crossbow fired I messed up (and hey, usually by not more than a couple of inches). They all seemed to be landing within an inch for the same bolt at 20yds. But the best I could do across the three was about 2”.

Ones about an inch right and even, the other is about 3/4” left and a little less than an inch down.

Since I am pretty much looking at 20yd and under shots, maybe up to low 30s if I am trying to sneak up on deer in my yard if I am not in my stand or blind I’ll take it.

Also I really appreciate the feedback.

 

[lazarus]

So last spring I cleared an area that is about 25x25yds of saplings and undergrowth in front of my tree stand. I then spread subterranean clover. Sadly, the Japanese stilt grass still came back even though much of it I ripped up. I am tempted to spread some round up in the spring, but I am worried that might kill the trees. But, a fair amount of clover came up first. I figured it is being mostly chocked out by stilt grass and just dim back in there with all of the mature trees. Well my game camera went up 9/6 and almost 700 pictures on it. Now, most are squirrels and racoons, but plenty of deer. Including a number of them bedding down in there and tons of them passing through and grazing in front of the camera. The camera is only capturing about a third of the area towards one end. I might move it to be on my ladder stand to get a view of the whole area when I go back.

So anyway, it might be working better than I had thought. I do plan to spread the rest of the clover after clearing it again sometime when the stilt grass starts dying back a little after the first couple of frosts. That and get some brassica seed to throw down. Any browse is better than no browse.

I am also putting up a corn feeder I just built. I got a Moultrie corn spreader and converted a 3-gallon galvanized steel bucket. I used I plasma cutter to cut out the feed hole, drilled it and attached it. Then spray painted it, so it was a little less conspicuous. I need to take my ladder down there to tie a rope to the strap on a medium sized tree at the edge of the clearing near the path and then hang it from a carabiner from the rope.

I'll post a picture or two later. I don't plan to feed much. Probably only a couple of seconds half an hour before dawn. At least for now. I aim to harvest a doe in my side yard clearing from my ground blind in a couple of weeks once it has cooled a bit more and I've picked up that button from the butcher. That and busy at work, I am getting my COVID booster next Thursday that is likely to make me feel like crap Friday. Soccer game Saturday. Maybe Ren Fest Sunday. But the following weekend might work out. Maybe take a day off work again and try to sit the morning and evening if the morning doesn't work out that Friday.

THEN mid October I'll up the feed rate a little more and stop feeding in my side yard near where I put up my blind. That whole area seems to get some good sized bucks come the rut, cruising for does. I missed out on any last season, but I have pictures of a couple of nice 6s, a very nice 8 pretty regularly (just not the 3 days I sat out there in early/mid November), a spectacular 10 a couple of times, and a very nice 9 a couple of times.

I had a feeder out there last season from early October until late January. Though squirrels or racoons ate a whole through the plastic lid sometime in January once I let it run empty. I am hoping a STEEL bucket with a STEEL lid will fair a lot better. Plus I plan to try to mount it out from the tree a bit more than before so the racoons can't lean out and spin the feeder.

PS I may need to try to trap a racoon or two. First, because I've really wanted to try to tan and make one into a hat. Two, because I am seeing 2-4 multiple times every night rooting around there. Last season it was 2-6 almmost night with the feeder out there.

 

[308Scout]

So last spring I cleared an area that is about 25x25yds of saplings and undergrowth in front of my tree stand. I then spread subterranean clover. Sadly, the Japanese stilt grass still came back even though much of it I ripped up. I am tempted to spread some round up in the spring, but I am worried that might kill the trees. But, a fair amount of clover came up first. I figured it is being mostly chocked out by stilt grass and just dim back in there with all of the mature trees. Well my game camera went up 9/6 and almost 700 pictures on it. Now, most are squirrels and racoons, but plenty of deer. Including a number of them bedding down in there and tons of them passing through and grazing in front of the camera. The camera is only capturing about a third of the area towards one end. I might move it to be on my ladder stand to get a view of the whole area when I go back.

So anyway, it might be working better than I had thought. I do plan to spread the rest of the clover after clearing it again sometime when the stilt grass starts dying back a little after the first couple of frosts. That and get some brassica seed to throw down. Any browse is better than no browse.

I am also putting up a corn feeder I just built. I got a Moultrie corn spreader and converted a 3-gallon galvanized steel bucket. I used I plasma cutter to cut out the feed hole, drilled it and attached it. Then spray painted it, so it was a little less conspicuous. I need to take my ladder down there to tie a rope to the strap on a medium sized tree at the edge of the clearing near the path and then hang it from a carabiner from the rope.

I'll post a picture or two later. I don't plan to feed much. Probably only a couple of seconds half an hour before dawn. At least for now. I aim to harvest a doe in my side yard clearing from my ground blind in a couple of weeks once it has cooled a bit more and I've picked up that button from the butcher. That and busy at work, I am getting my COVID booster next Thursday that is likely to make me feel like crap Friday. Soccer game Saturday. Maybe Ren Fest Sunday. But the following weekend might work out. Maybe take a day off work again and try to sit the morning and evening if the morning doesn't work out that Friday.

THEN mid October I'll up the feed rate a little more and stop feeding in my side yard near where I put up my blind. That whole area seems to get some good sized bucks come the rut, cruising for does. I missed out on any last season, but I have pictures of a couple of nice 6s, a very nice 8 pretty regularly (just not the 3 days I sat out there in early/mid November), a spectacular 10 a couple of times, and a very nice 9 a couple of times.

I had a feeder out there last season from early October until late January. Though squirrels or racoons ate a whole through the plastic lid sometime in January once I let it run empty. I am hoping a STEEL bucket with a STEEL lid will fair a lot better. Plus I plan to try to mount it out from the tree a bit more than before so the racoons can't lean out and spin the feeder.

PS I may need to try to trap a racoon or two. First, because I've really wanted to try to tan and make one into a hat. Two, because I am seeing 2-4 multiple times every night rooting around there. Last season it was 2-6 almmost night with the feeder out there.

A mix of vinegar, some salt, and a touch of dish detergent in a garden sprayer it a good solution for taking out stiltgrass. It's an annual grass and dies off each year, so the key is getting it before it goes to seed.

 

[lazarus]

A mix of vinegar, some salt, and a touch of dish detergent in a garden sprayer it a good solution for taking out stiltgrass. It's an annual grass and dies off each year, so the key is getting it before it goes to seed.

I appreciate the suggestion. I'll need to look into that some more. If I have options that aren't torching the ground, goats, or roundup, that would be awesome.

 

[308Scout]

I appreciate the suggestion. I'll need to look into that some more. If I have options that aren't torching the ground, goats, or roundup, that would be awesome.

The key is getting it on a dry day when it's a bit up and off the ground, but not yet full height/ready for seed. Use a bit of salt, but don't go crazy with it (a tablespoon per gallon or two is sufficient and doesn't result in salted earth IME). The detergent helps it cling to the blades. The vinegar does the heavy lift drying the green on the blades and the salt just helps the process along. The stiltgrass gets essentially torched if the sun comes in contact with it. It works in the shade, but any direct sunlight does a ridiculous number on it.

 

[lazarus]

Here is the feeder up. I have a cage I can weld to the bucket if it comes to it, but I think raccoons and squirrels shouldn’t be able to get to the spinner this time. And unless they want to chew through the rope or paracord, nothing to chew through.

 

[outrider58]

I’ve used rage two blade for 80% of my deer taken. They have always done more than enough damage to keep the tracking short. I find the arrows although very similar are not always identical. If I make up 12 I’ll shoot them and start marking them as to accuracy. There will usually be one or two that will never make a hunting trip.

I tried Rages when they first came out(2 years). Every deer I shot, and I'm not a terrible shot, ran away, never to be found. The only exception was a doe that was spine shot. Eventually, I gave Shwackers a try and all but one deer I shot died within eye-sight. The one exception to that was a 10 pnt. that made it about 80 yds down a creek bottom. He was actually heart shot.