Made a trip to the Midwest to bowhunt some public land with a good friend and two of my uncles back in November. The weather was unseasonably hot for that time of the year, with most of the days having highs in the 70's. We scouted a ton, and put every bit of 50+ miles on our boots trying to find the best sign that we could put ourselves on.
About 4 days into our week long hunt, after seeing only a few deer, the weather was slated to change. We had a cold front approaching, with some severe weather that was supposed to pass through. I set out to hunt that I had hung, that was positioned perfectly to intercept a rut crazed buck looking for a hot doe. It was the edge of a cut cornfield, with several trails coming out from the very dense underbrush that was sure to be a big bucks bedding area. When I arrived at the stand, there was a fresh thigh sized rub 20 yards behind my loc on. I had a good feeling about that evenings hunt. Later that afternoon, the skies got dark and I knew the rain was not far behind. I did not bring my rain gear with me, knowing that it would be in the mid 70's again that afternoon, I didn't mind getting a little wet.
The rain came and went, all within about a fifteen minute time span. After the rain rolled through, it was as if the woods just smelt fresh. This was the first rain that the area had seen in weeks, so I knew that the bucks would be on their feet freshening up their scrapes.
Right before dark, I start gathering up my things to make the long walk back to the truck, until something caught my attention. I could hear something walking in the thicket behind me, and it was heading my way. I stood up and got ready, because I knew that it would have to pass within 12 yards of me to come out into the field edge. Sure enough, he walks out just yards from me, and I can tell that he was a good one. I made the decision to go ahead and fill my tag on him. I drew back, stopped him, and let the arrow fly. Upon impact, he hit the ground. I hit him a tad high, and caught his spine. I finished him off with another arrow, and began to praise God for the blessing that I had just received. After many miles of scouting and long days of hunting, I had taken the biggest buck of my life. To make it even better, I had taken him with my bow, and on public land.
The buck weighed in at 216 pounds, and sported a mainframe 10 point rack that scored just shy of 145'. We ended the trip with four deer taken. Two does, a 10 point, and a 120' 8 point. We made memories that I won't soon forget.
anybody have any reports from sherburne this weekend? i only went saturday morning, it was very hot and not much moving but the turkeys...but then again i got out the woods at 11, with the full moon i shouldve stayed through midday...i didnt hunt the afternoon because of the heat...didnt go this morning becuase of all this rain, but still debating if i should go later on....didnt find hardly any fresh buck sign, a couple old scrapes that hadnt been freshened up since before the last rain, and a couple old rubs...caught about a 3 foot water snake, and on the way home seen about an 8 foot alligator from the basin bridge...anybody finding any good signs? ill be back at it again next weekend, and then ill have a 4 day weekend for muzzleloader...hopefully ill finish out this season with a bang...lilcajun
does anybody know where i can get a map of Red Dirt WMA and Catahoula National Wildlife Refuge??? im wanting to go hunt at one of them for the opening weekend of muzzleloader and rifle seasons...need to find some general areas to start scouting...ive been to both of them when i was younger but dont remember much besides all the deer that were taken...if i remember right there were more bucks taken than does for the either sex weekends at both of them....i wanna get back out there on my own to find some good areas to hunt...we used to stay in the campground in williana when we would go to catahoula...does anyone know of any general areas in these places that would be a good place to start my scouting? being that i am about 2 hours away from both of them ill be making a weekend out of it prolly. thanks to everyone in advance...lilcajun
im looking to join a hunting club around the ramah or grosse tete areas for the 06-07 season...Im looking for somewhere to bring my fiance'. want something where there is a good bit of deer...if you know of any clubs in this area, or any other area within an hour from the henderson-cecilia area, let me know....thanks
here is a picture of my girlfriends first deer...she killed it at my old hunting club in Oakdale...it was a nice doe that weighed a little over 100 lbs...she had hunted with me for about 3 weekends before she finally saw a deer, and guess what, this is the one...she is definately hooked...hopefully she'll be hunting with me again this year, i just hope she doesnt outdo me too soon....Briley
hey widowmaker, you aint the only one that kills small ones...heres one i got with my bow on the second day of bowseason last year...yall need to lay off of him....Briley
im looking for some info about a couple different digital deer cameras...i cant afford a cuddeback, so im looking at the stealth cam 1.3 megapixel and the moultrie gamespy digital which is also 1.3 megapixel...can anyone give me some feedback on these cameras? hoping to purchase one of them in the very near future...any help would be appreciated...thanks.
congrats Lance....thats a nice bird!
i definately agree, if its gonna take the same amount of time, id bring it to mike brazda...i seriously doubt that it'll take that long though...it'll be hard to find a better gunsmith anywhere in the state pretty much...he's the only person i bring my guns to.
thats because i told you about my best spot but you too lazy to go hunt it! lol
i hope your joking about it scoring 132! look at the g3's, g4's, and even g5's!!!! not to mention the mass on it! definately 150-160 class! congrats on a great buck!
that boat would be perfect for henderson...launch at the public launch in butte la rose, and go north of the interstate and find you a cove or go in the woods somewhere...in the south flats its mostly blackjacks and stuff that are killed, and its mainly the same people that have been hunting there for a long time that have blinds in there...make sure you get a permit for indian bayou though, b/c everything north of i10 in henderson is indian bayou...we've killed everything from mallards, teal, woodies, greys, etc...good mix of ducks in there.
i went to a wildlife and fisheries "banquet" i guess you could call it before the season...they talked a lot about the new tags and stuff, and the question about using 45/70's came up in the meeting...they said as far as they know they ARE allowed in indian bayou, b/c they are following the state rules, but a quick call to port barre wouldnt hurt.
i live in cecilia, but havent heard of anything...got me curious now, ill have to ask around about the bow and about the 45/70 in sherburne.
nice bird, but you shouldve let your daddy shoot! now they done took over his spot and he might not have another chance! lol...congrats, but tell your daddy to get there early in the morning b/c somebody's gonna be shining their light to find a seat in there LMAO!
hey man i work at S&S Steel in Arnaudville and i actually run one of the rollform machines...the last time i checked, for 26 gauge R panel or M panel i THINK it was $2.29 ft, but from what im hearing the price is going up...if you want, i can check it out tomorrow and find out how much it is exactly...do you want galvalume or colored sheets? galv. sheets generally run cheaper i believe. if you want, you can call and talk to one of the salesmen 337-754-5097...i know i have a lot of R panel cover sheets that arent in that bad a shape...let me know if you need to find out anything for you.
if you're hunting around indian bayou, this is probably the best part of the season, at least for me it is...i pretty much only hunt indian bayou late in the season, and i see quite a bit! the good thing is, you dont have to go far from the levee, the deer feed on the green grass at night, being that there isnt much for them to eat...last year, i made a hunt early feb. in indian bayou, got off of work early on a friday, WALKED in the woods MAYBE 200 yards, within 45 minutes i had 7 deer walking within 15 yards of my stand heading for the levee towards the river...couldnt get a shot though, they were spooky...the only thing bad, late season everything is dead, and the rabbit dogs keep them nervous, so make sure you wear a mask and stay well camoflauged.
i hunt sherburne a lot also and i kill quite a few deer there...but they are right, it does get crowded, BUT, as long as you're willing to put in the work to get away from everybody, you kill deer....hell, i didnt see one other person where i was thing year, but i went in by boat, and walked 1/2 mile to a mile in the woods, but i killed deer.
you shouldve rephrased that...he was FACING directly away from you, i was thinkin the same as these other guys...maybe you caught the inside of him back leg or something???
my wife's shooting 125 grains in HER 30.06...she doesnt complain at all, and shes not a big girl, only around 120 lbs or so...she has shot 180 grain and kinda felt it lol, but she doesnt mind when shes shooting at a deer....buy a box of 125 grains and let her try it out.
my wife shoots a 30.06 and doesnt complain about the recoil at all!
i run the firestone destination m/t's on my Z71...they have almost 30,000 miles on them and they still got a good amount of tread left....i will definately buy another set when these run out...pull good, and good wear on the road for a decent price.
we hunted friday on the south end, didnt see a thing all day...saturday morning was a different story...i had deer all over me...i seen 8, all does and yearlings...didnt really wanna shoot but i ended up missing a big doe, i was mainly looking for horns...and my buddy killed a small doe...but they were moving REALLY good ahead of that front...probably try to make it back for bucks only or ML.
there was one hog killed on sherburne thanksgiving weekend on the north end...supposedly there was about 20-30 when the guy shot it...they killed it somewhere on big alabama, according to the game wardens.
you can have the frog toggs...i wasted my money on that...drizzling rain, they're good...but hard soaking rain, you WILL get wet, guaranteed...i wore em last saturday morning, picked up my leg to get in my stand, and my pants ripped...save your money and buy a better rainsuit...my .02.
id be up for it! sounds like fun shooting some fish!