10/23/06 Hour and a half walk.
Don't think I can call it hunting. I have spent so much time sitting at Cheatham and not seeing anything, that I don't have much patience for setting up a proper ambush.
Tonight I headed to Sidney Bluff road at 4:44 - got there about 5:15. I parked the truck farther from the field than I have been. I didn't bother putting on camo pants - was wearing blue jeans.
I did have camo coat, hat and face mask. I walked slowly back to the field. I heard footsteps in the trees next to me - it took me about 10 minutes to finally determine the footstep noises were from turkeys.
When I neared the field, I saw a deer body on the southern most entry point. The deer was walking northward, away from me. I crept up to the corner of the field and stood motionless for about 15 minutes. With a rifle I would have had a decent butt shot. I was never closer than 75 yards. I am fairly sure the critter had antlers, but I was never able to get a clear view of the antlers.
I used the shape of the hill to head to the woods to the east side of the field. The wind would work in my favor down there.
I leaned against a tree about 150 yards east of the field - straight down one of the two ridges that leads off the east side.
At 5:53 (sunset was 6:02) I heard alot of wing flapping, which sounded like turkeys roosting on the other ridge - the ridge that runs parallel to the north of were I was standing. I made a mental note of the proximity to sunset - would I be able to guage sunset by the sound of turkeys roosting?
The turkeys were getting restless - seemed odd. Several took flight and changed trees. Moments later I heard a strange animal noise - sounded like a combination of a tree frog and a troll making a strange burping, groaning sound. Could not have been a tree frog - too cold, too much travelling (it was moving). Maybe it was a bob-cat or a coyote pup. A coyote pup may have startled the turkeys. I also heard a loud wheeze that I thought must have been the buck I saw earlier - maybe he did see or hear me and I did push him down the other ridge. He seemed to be wheezing fromt the odd animal sound also. Then I heard coyote howls, one then two, then a bunch. A very eerie sound in the middle of the woods that are getting darker and colder by the second. The everything went quiet.
I heard a truck leaving the logging road on the previously mentioned ridge. I waited a few more minutes thinking maybe the vehicle would stir things up again. No luck. I could barely see in the woods so I headed for the loggin road. I could still see enough for a shot on the road, so I walked slowly. At the corner of the field - very much hidden by the slope of the field edge and all of the brush, I thought I could see the "saw horse" shape of a deer. I did, I did see a deer. We both realized what the other was at about the same time. Niether of us had a clear view of the other. He bolted. I stood motionless. I heard him run for about a 10th of a mile - he was heading south - maybe down the logging road, maybe along the ridge next to the road. He stopped and snorted several times before finally shutting up.
I walked the rest of the way to the truck and am now finished writing at about 7:50. I am about ready for some stand hunting. My patience is returning. I have had several sightings now in this field. I have some good ideas for stand locations.
Tonight I headed to Sidney Bluff road at 4:44 - got there about 5:15. I parked the truck farther from the field than I have been. I didn't bother putting on camo pants - was wearing blue jeans.
I did have camo coat, hat and face mask. I walked slowly back to the field. I heard footsteps in the trees next to me - it took me about 10 minutes to finally determine the footstep noises were from turkeys.
When I neared the field, I saw a deer body on the southern most entry point. The deer was walking northward, away from me. I crept up to the corner of the field and stood motionless for about 15 minutes. With a rifle I would have had a decent butt shot. I was never closer than 75 yards. I am fairly sure the critter had antlers, but I was never able to get a clear view of the antlers.
I used the shape of the hill to head to the woods to the east side of the field. The wind would work in my favor down there.
I leaned against a tree about 150 yards east of the field - straight down one of the two ridges that leads off the east side.
At 5:53 (sunset was 6:02) I heard alot of wing flapping, which sounded like turkeys roosting on the other ridge - the ridge that runs parallel to the north of were I was standing. I made a mental note of the proximity to sunset - would I be able to guage sunset by the sound of turkeys roosting?
The turkeys were getting restless - seemed odd. Several took flight and changed trees. Moments later I heard a strange animal noise - sounded like a combination of a tree frog and a troll making a strange burping, groaning sound. Could not have been a tree frog - too cold, too much travelling (it was moving). Maybe it was a bob-cat or a coyote pup. A coyote pup may have startled the turkeys. I also heard a loud wheeze that I thought must have been the buck I saw earlier - maybe he did see or hear me and I did push him down the other ridge. He seemed to be wheezing fromt the odd animal sound also. Then I heard coyote howls, one then two, then a bunch. A very eerie sound in the middle of the woods that are getting darker and colder by the second. The everything went quiet.
I heard a truck leaving the logging road on the previously mentioned ridge. I waited a few more minutes thinking maybe the vehicle would stir things up again. No luck. I could barely see in the woods so I headed for the loggin road. I could still see enough for a shot on the road, so I walked slowly. At the corner of the field - very much hidden by the slope of the field edge and all of the brush, I thought I could see the "saw horse" shape of a deer. I did, I did see a deer. We both realized what the other was at about the same time. Niether of us had a clear view of the other. He bolted. I stood motionless. I heard him run for about a 10th of a mile - he was heading south - maybe down the logging road, maybe along the ridge next to the road. He stopped and snorted several times before finally shutting up.
I walked the rest of the way to the truck and am now finished writing at about 7:50. I am about ready for some stand hunting. My patience is returning. I have had several sightings now in this field. I have some good ideas for stand locations.
posted by Tim Baumgartner at
5:37 PM
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