Deer Camp Talk Survey Shoot or Pass Guest Book Comment Hillbilly Classifieds Contact Calendar Just My Thoughts New and Beginner hunters
Other sites to visit Pictures 2013 Game Bag 2012 Game Bag Trail cam pictures Trophy room sheds Fear the BEARD Missouri Deer News and Alerts
Scoring Hillbilly Huntin Staff Wild Game Recipes Merchandise check in 2013 Age That Deer
Other sites to visit Pictures 2013 Game Bag 2012 Game Bag Trail cam pictures Trophy room sheds Fear the BEARD Missouri Deer News and Alerts
Scoring Hillbilly Huntin Staff Wild Game Recipes Merchandise check in 2013 Age That Deer
August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013
March 2013 February 2013 January 2013
December2012 November 2012 October 2012
March 2013 February 2013 January 2013
December2012 November 2012 October 2012
Yearly Huntin Trip My yearly hunting trip starts Sunday November 3rd and I will be in the woods for two weeks so I won’t be putting up my daily articles but will try and put up updates on Facebook or the Talking from the Treestand blog. Since I won’t be putting up weekly best days to hunt when I’m on my trip we will look at the moon phase for the two weeks I will be gone.
The first week starting on November 3rd through the 9th the moon starts at 1% and ends with 42% with practically no visible moon the daytime activity will be great as the chasing and seeking phase will be in full swing the beginning of the week should be great hunting. The second week the moon visibility starts on the 10th with 53% and ends on the 17th with a full moon 100% visibility and according to the rut calculator the peak rut starts on the 16th. The 16th is also the opening day of rifle season and should make for a great opening day. The end of the week with the peak rut falling into place and a full moon means stay in the woods all day. The bucks will be chasing and running the does all night and when they bed down the bucks will stay on their feet and try and get the does up and chase them searching for a hot doe is what the bucks will be doing at the end of the week so be in the woods all day on the 15th with your bow and try to stick that buck searching for a hot doe. As the woods fill up with hunters opening day bring your lunch with you and sit there all day because you have know idea when that buck is going to stroll by your stand. Remember even at mid-morning when most hunters are leaving the woods stay in your stand or at least in the woods and let the other hunters jump the deer and push them your way. Good luck everyone! Make sure to follow Hillbilly Huntin on Facebook so you can get the updates from my trip and see the pictures that get posted. Like I said good luck and the beginning of the week may be the best days of the year to be in the woods it looks like my vacation fell perfect this year. October 28th-November 3rd Its Monday morning October 28th 2013 this week is Halloween week Halloween actually falls on Thursday October 31st 2013. There is rain in the forecast this week evens some thunderstorms to look forward to. The temperature will very this week starting in the high 60’s low 70’s and ending the week in the high 50’s that’s a twenty degree difference and with the moon visibility dropping to 1% by the end of the week November 3rd 2013 the daytime deer activity should be mostly all of their activity but because of the chasing phase of the rut starting to show you possibly could have night time chasing going on but I would put my money on it mostly being daytime activity. Well let’s get into it and analyze the weather and moon phase for the week and figure out what days will be best to hunt.
Let’s look at the weather Tuesday the 29th starts our chances of rain, thunder at 90% then Wednesday a 70% chance of Thunderstorms, and Thursday the 31st Halloween there is a 50% chance of scattered Thunderstorms. With mid-week temperatures in the middle 60’s and after the storms rolling through the temperature will be in the low 60’s. The end of the work week starts the highs in the 50’s and sunny you’re looking at a good weekend to hunt if you work normal working hours. With three days of rain and temperatures dropping I would say just looking at the weather that Friday November 1st would be the best day to hunt and the second best day would be today Monday the 28th before the storms roll in. The moon visibility is dropping the entire week starting at 36% and ending with the new moon visibility at 1%. The moon isn’t much of a factor other than the new moon making the tail end of the week the best time to hunt Saturday November the 2nd the visibility is 2% as is the same November 4th so the weekend is looking like a perfect time to be in the woods. When you put in the weather and moon phase best days to hunt together you don’t always have the weather and moon phase matching up and getting the truly best days to hunt. This week you do the moon visibility is perfect along with the weather for a Saturday Sunday weekend hunting trip. The deer activity should be amazing and may possibly be the best days of the year to be in the woods and put a deer on the ground. Good luck on your hunt! weekend hunting report Well my weekend hunt was rather exciting! No I didn’t let an arrow fly but I did get to see two mature bucks that with a rifle would be on my wall. Bucks have started chasing does, well the younger does from what I can tell. Now let me tell you about my trip.
When I got off work on Wednesdays I drove to the woods and sat in one of my newer locations. The from the small ridge in front of me I heard running coming down into the bottom when I was able to see what it was I was somewhat disappointed. It was a small doe by the time it got to the bottom of the ridge I could hear another deer following her and hear soft grunting. The buck was a young 4 point with lots of potential if he makes it through the season. The doe was out of sight and then the buck was. This was late morning around 10:50 am. The mid-day was rather un eventful now the evening hunt on the other hand was exciting. Around 5:50 pm I heard bucks fighting above and up the ridge for me I blew a few grunts and then heard running coming down the ridge above me. It was a doe running for her life it seemed as she ran down the ridge. About fifty yards behind her was a deer walking slowly with his nose to the ground he was randomly stopping and putting his nose in the air and that’s when I was able to see his rack he was a mature ten point lots of mass, wide, and tall he was perfect. I grunted a few times and he started to walk down to me. I had covered myself in Dead Down Wind scent away then used Fresh Earth scent away as a cover scent. The wind was blowing right to the buck and he never smelt me. He walks ten to fifteen yards towards me but the doe hadn’t run too far into the bottom and took off running and his path changed to go find her. About the time he made it over the end of the ridge a heard another deer walking the same trail it was a young buck that walked right down the trail the doe was on and off the end of the ridge. I would say about ten minutes latter I hear running again but back up the ridge it was the doe running for her life with the young buck not too far behind. Other than that there wasn’t much activity and it was getting dark so I slipped out and started planning my morning hunt for Thursday. I now know were my evening hunts will be next week and I will be hoping for the same thing to happen next week. When I woke up Thursday morning my windshield was frosted over and the wind was blowing in force and I didn’t have a stand for the wind blowing in the direction is was blowing so I stay in camp and waited until day light and I could come up with a plan. I decided to hunt an area that I hadn’t been in a few years witch was an over grown field. With cedar trees on one end that will block the wind along with the ridge to block the wind. After sitting there for about an hour I decided to walk the edge of the field and found a well-used trail started walking it down the side of the field I got near an in cut and started looking down the trail for feeder trails and saw a big bodied deer so I moved to the side just on the wood line and turned on my camera. The deer didn’t follow the trail and started walking into the field. It lifted its head and I saw antlers I knew by looking at him he was about the same size as the buck I shot last year but with more mass. I looked up to make sure he was in the camera before I took the shot and my camera was flashing the battery symbol then went to a black screen and was dead. I looked back in on him and he had stopped behind some brush and I couldn’t get a shot. I could see the front of his shoulder but couldn’t get a clean shot we sat in a stare down for about five minutes before he decided something wasn’t right and bounded off. He never flagged or alerted just turned directly away from me and bounded off. I know he couldn’t smell me because the wind was blowing at me. After I got home I figured out that the sun was shining on my camera and he didn’t like it. I will be painting my camera so that doesn’t happen again and I can get the shot. I also put new batteries in my camera and will be ready next time. I will be doing a morning hunt in the field next week and an evening hunt on the ridge to try and put an arrow into one of those two bucks both were mature great bucks to put on my wall. In conclusion the does are showing early signs of estrus and the bucks are starting to chase. It’s time to start putting out scent and possibly using a decoy if I can find one I like. Grunts are bringing them in if they don’t cut the trail of a doe and you could probably rattle in a nice buck right now. Tactics are going to change and should probably start changing now scents will be your best friend with some calls right about now. My Gear for this year My bow hunting gear set up this year is my Barnett Ghost 350 with 20’ Head Hunter bolts and Mid- Atlantic X system 100 grain broad heads. Mounted to my scope I have the Attachacam camera mount to video tape the shot and hunt. Share a picture of your set up and tell us what you’re using. If you want to self-film your hunts and get that shot of a life time on camera go check out the Attachacam website and pick up your own.
Some of the other gear I am using this year would be the Flextone bone collector grunt wheeze deer call, Primos the great big can deer call, and Flextone black rack deer call. Some more gear I have been using ThemaCell, and I have been trying different cover scents here are a few Dead Down Wind soap, cover scent, wind checker, detergent, and dryer sheets the other is scent way fresh earth cover scent. I also use Hunter Specialties Earth wafers to cover my scent when I’m in the woods. When it comes to camouflage I use whatever I can get on sell I have a mixture of RealTree and Mossy Oak. I carry a Red Head backpack and I keep drag rope water and snacks along with my calls and extra scents. I use fox urine on my boots to cover the scent that my boots pick up. These are just some of the things I use and have been using through the season so far. I will make sure to let you know what works and doesn’t as the season progresses. So far other than the Black Rack with a slight smell when you using them I have no complaints on any of the gear. Both cover scents have worked great and I can’t complain about either one of them. Like I said I will let you know how the gear irons out as the season goes on. Good luck this season I will be packing my gear for my two week hunt starting November 3rd and ending November 17th. I will also give you the menu for meals the two weeks when I figure it out for myself. Make sure to let us know how your hunts go and share all your pictures and stories. Hunting trip October 17th I was only able to make it out to the woods one day over the weekend but it was a good day in the woods. No arrows flew but I did get my sights on a nice young 6 point. He had a decent rack for a 6 but was a young buck and had caught me off guard. I did have a doe come in early in the morning but was out of range and she probably was a little young to be taken she was very small so I probably would have passed on her even in range.
The day I hunted was Thursday the 17th it was a cold morning with some light fog and a few sprinkles early in the morning. The leaves were damp and the squirrels running around weren’t even making noise so it was hard to hear anything walking up. I was hunting a rub line I found last week that had a few scrapes along the way. After sunlight I moved about 10 yards up the side of the hill to increase my visibility and see down into the draw. I had been sitting for about 10 minutes and had just sent out a text when I heard a stick break (I was sitting between to trees and my bow was in front of me.) I turned around and there was a nice 6 point standing 10 feet from me we had stand off for about 5 minutes before he ran up the hill and stood trying to figure out what I was. By the end of it he had circled around me so he could catch my scent I don’t think he ever did but he knew something was wrong. He never ran but he did jog about 20 yards and would stop and look back at me then jog again and stop and look at me until he finally just walked off over the ridge. I decided to move to another location and ended up finding three more scrapes and a few rubs. I also jumped a doe that was bedded down right on the trail. I checked up on my trail camera pictures and found out that I have a very very nice 3 year old 6 point with a larger body than we are used to seeing in this area. My other trail camera only had a few pictures on it but I know why. The reason I only had a few pictures is because last week I built a ground blind not far from it probably less than 50 yards. Clearing out shooting lanes around the area affected the deer activity in the area and hopefully it will get back to normal and I will start having the deer activity back to where it was. I ended up checking out a fourth area that I hunted and the beginning of the season the area I saw the Ghost at. I was very upset to find that there was no activity or trails still being used after the forestry department cut down so many large trees that are now just lying there over these trails and changing the deer patterns. I will be doing more scouting around that area to find how it has changed and were the deer or moving now. October 14th- 20th It’s the start of another work week so that means it’s time to analyze the weather and moon visibility to determine what days are going to be the best to hunt and explain my reasoning. To start with one observation before we get into analyzing everything it looks like the temperatures are falling and for the most part we will be dry this week other than a 90% chance of rain on Tuesday. Also the full moon falls on Friday the 18th this week. Let’s get to picking and explaining the best days to be in the woods.
We will start with the moon visibility for the week every day until Friday the 18th the moon will be getting more visible. Saturday the 19th the moon will still be 100% visible and Sunday the 20th visibility only drops to 98% witch is the same amount of visibility as Thursday the 17th. The moon visibility is in the 90% range for the last 5 days of the week forecast and that means the majority of deer movement will be at night. The amount of rubs your finding should increase due to the increase of night time movement and that’s a good thing because you’re going to be able to find rub lines and have good indicators for buck movement. The week starts out with a 90% chance of rain on Tuesday the 15th and the high temperatures staying in the 60 degree range starting the same day through the rest of the week. Sunday the 20th the high drops from mid-60’s to high 50’s and sunny. The entire week you can look forward to at least partly cloudy skies until Sunday. The wind will be at the strongest on Wednesday the 16th other than today Monday the 14th and it’s only expected to be in the 10 to 11 mph range. The lows the entire week other than today Monday the 14th are in the low 40’s.
Picking the best days to hunt was going to be a tossup due to the full moon until you look at the 90% chance of rain on Tuesday made it a little easier to pick even still it will depend on if it rains the entire day and how strong the storms are. You could call the best day Monday or Wednesday but depending on the rain it may be Tuesday after the rain. Then end of the week the deer movement will be mostly at night so you may be able to catch the deer heading to bed right at sunrise. That will depend on the amount of cloud cover throughout the night.
If I was picking one day to hunt it would be Wednesday after a rain/ thunder storm the day before with temperatures in the 60’s and a gentle 10 mph wind out of the NW. it should still be partly cloudy with the moon being 93% visible the daytime movement will probably still be slow but the morning hunt should be great along with an ok late evening hunt to end the day. 10-10-13 trip report Well the weekend hunting report is simple in reality I came home with my tags still not filled. I did past on a spike and saw a few doe out of range. My hunt was cut short due to the woods being filled with horseback riders. If you remember I put out a new thing I made and was going to let you know how it worked. I got over 100 pictures on my trail cam in a week this is the same camera that it took 4 weeks for me to get 200 pictures. So to say the least it worked and I’m pleased with it. The deer seem to love it and that makes me happy what also makes me happy is that all 3 of my mineral sites are still very active.
I found 3 scrapes and 4 rubs on this trip I also know that I have five different young bucks that I will be passing on this year if they walk by my stand with me in it. I also have one buck that is either bad genetics, old, or still young I can’t decide and will be doing some work to figure out the age of this buck and if he needs to be passed or taken. I’m very happy with my set up this year and I feel very confident that I will be able to tag out this year. Right now I’m highly considering passing on any of the bucks I see this year unless it’s a buck that I don’t have on camera I’m happy to fill my freezer with does. I think I will be able to see lots of deer activity when I able to stay in the woods for longer than half a day. I received my Attachacam in the mail when I got back from the woods so next week I will be heading to the woods ready to get footage. The mornings have been really nice but it heats up fast and that’s not making me happy hopefully the temperature will get low and stay low. October 7th-13th Its Monday again and from the reports I have got from hunters in the field Saturday and Sunday were great days to be in the woods. The arrows didn’t fly because the guys I talked to are trophy hunting right now but they were seeing lots of deer activity. Now on to this week the week of October 7th-13th, 2013 the moon doesn’t reach over 50% visibility until Saturday the 12th the first part of the week should be great if you’re just looking at moon phase for deer activity. Looking at the weather there is a 0% chance of rain until Friday the 11th and its only 10% Saturday and Sunday there is a 30% chance of rain and Saturday the 12th there calling for isolated thunderstorms Sunday the 13th there just calling for few showers. The temperature all week is going to have highs in the mid 70’s lows in the mid 50’s.
Now that you have the moon phase and weather forecast let’s look at what they best days to hunt will be. I’m going to go with Friday as the best day to hunt because of the thunderstorms being called for on Saturday with the cloud cover moving in on Thursday the 10th and staying through the weekend. Your first quarter moon that starts Friday being partly covered means that the 45% visibility becoming irrelevant the deer should be moving in the morning and throughout the day. The wind will be at 11 mph so your scent should be able to flood the woods and if you have a curiosity scent out it should have the deer moving in to check it out. I feel like Thursday will be a pretty good day to hunt as well since the moon will only be at 34% visible and partly covered with clouds. The beginning of the week until Saturday in all should be decent hunting with the daytime deer activity increasing towards the end of the week. Saturday and Sunday will probably not have as much deer activity as the rest of the week. With the government shutdown in full swing if your affected by it and sitting at home stressed wondering when you will get paid again you have a good week to get some stress relief and spend some time in the woods the entire week then with the rainy weather stay inside and watch football. In conclusion if you can make it to the woods at any point through the week you should be seeing deer movement. The Hillbilly family is growing The Hillbilly Huntin family is growing and kids are due starting in December and ending in March. Cheeto is expecting a girl The Hillbilly is expecting another girl and the Hillbillies little brother is expecting a boy. We are all very excited to be able to bring hunters and huntresses into the world and introduce them to the great outdoors. As the Hillbilly family grows so will this site and we will be learning how to bring young ones into the world of hunting and shooting we look forward to sharing our experiences with you all.
Sep 30th- Oct 6th Well it’s Monday morning again and time to analyze the best days to hunt this week and take a look at the moon phases to determine what days will be best to hunt deer. Like I have said this is for where I hunt so the weather may be different in your neck of the woods. Looking back at last week we didn’t get the thunderstorms but we did get rain and the weather man is calling for it again. So let’s check it out!
The first thing that sticks out is that we will be in the high 70’s low 80‘s until sat when the temperature has a dramatic cool down. The lows all week will be at a comfortable temperature in the 60’s until the thunderstorms role in Friday October 24th. Wednesday there calling for isolated thunderstorms just like Friday it’s only a 30% chance of rain so I’m not going to count on it what I will be counting on is the cold front that will drop us down into the 60’s. With the weather in the books let’s take a look at the moon. The brightest the moon will be is on Monday at 21% visible the rest of the week the moon is decreasing in visibility until the new moon on Saturday. This entire week the moon will be dark producing very little to no light.
With the moon being dark the entire week it won’t be a very big factor on what days are best to hunt so we a going to concentrate on the weather. Friday before the cold front moves in you may see an elevated amount of deer movement if the thunderstorms are kicking up Saturday after the cold front moves in should trigger the deer to be on their feet and feeding. The movement should also be increasing steadily due to the bucks losing velvet and starting to break out of bachelor groups searching for their territory. From here on out bucks are going to be increasing testosterone levels in their bodies so bringing the antlers with you and doing some light rattling should become effective. Remember there sparing at this point and not all out fighting. Thursday the low is in the 60’s and Friday the low is in the 40’s a 20 degree difference so an evening hunt on Thursday should be pretty nice depending on when the cold front is being expected to move through on Friday. All in all the entire week looks like a good week to be in the woods but if I’m picking two days to hunt it would be Friday and Saturday due to the cold front moving in. Tuesday would be the last of the days I picked to hunt since it will be mostly sunny and in the low 80’s. Good luck this week and make sure to let us know when you fill your tag. |
Youth Season I have been talking with many other hunters around southwest Missouri and they are all seeing the same thing. Bucks are moving during daylight hours and chasing does. They are also starting to get more aggressive many hunters have been seeing bucks with broken tines. These next few days the activity is going to just keep increasing and actually continue increasing for the next two weeks but I want to talk about this weekend.
You might ask why I want to talk about this weekend? The reason I want to talk about this weekend is because its youth season here in Missouri. It’s a great time to take the youngsters into the woods and with the way the rut is falling this year your kiddo should have the opportunity to see lots of deer activity and a great chance to put there tag on a buck. Not that tagging a buck is the important part taking kids and future hunters into the outdoors and getting them involved in the hunting traditions at a young age is. Teaching them why it’s important and means so much to you. The most important part of this weekend is the experience and memories of taking young ones into the woods. If you have the chance weather it’s your kids or friends that can’t take them hunting try to take a kid to the woods this weekend and spend some time in the outdoors teaching them the traditions and how to hunt. Make sure to keep it fun and explain what you’re looking at why you’re hunting where you are and all the factors that go in to it. Good luck and share your trophy. Don’t forget if it’s there first deer send us the picture and name so we can get them a certificate from Hillbilly Huntin congratulating them on their first deer. Just so you know Just so everyone knows on Facebook there is a Hillbilly Huntin community page that is not affiliated with this website. The person that created it copied our logo and name and is using it as his own. I have talked to him and he refuses to take it down or change the logo and name. He has posted the link to my website on his page and we take no responsibility and cannot control what he puts on his Facebook page. If you want to follow us on Facebook we would love it but when you look for us it is not a like page it’s a friend request page if you have questions on if you’re following the actual Facebook page for this website look through the page the one that is oldest is the correct page. The person that made the replica page was made on October 23rd 2013. We look forward to connecting with you on Facebook as well as here on the site.
This is the logo that the person has copied from the internet and is using as his profile picture this is not the real Hillbilly Huntin Facebook page just so everyone knows.
Fear The Beard November is right around the corner and opening day of rifle season is the 16th but the key I’m talking about right now is November! What is the month of November? It’s NO SHAVE NOVEMBER! That means don’t shave grow your beard and have fun with it. There are lots of us that have kept the razor off our face since deer season started. Take a before and after picture. Take a picture now then take another before you shave at the first of December. All the pictures that get sent in to Hillbilly Huntin will be posted on the Fear The Beard page.
Bucks are chasing When the bucks start chasing does its time for your tactics to start changing. It’s time to bring in more calls, scents, and decoys. When the bucks start chasing does you need to hunt the travel corridors and funnels. In the article we will go into it more in depth on what tactics and how to use them. As the phases of the rut start to cycle you have to adapt and change your hunting tactics so let’s look at how they change.
This time of year brings excitement to the woods does will be running from bucks and bucks will start looking for does. Younger bucks will be chasing hard right now older bucks that have made it a few seasons know the rut isn’t a sprint but a marathon. They may still follow a doe but they won’t be chasing her like the younger bucks will. The younger does are going to cycle a little sooner and may indicate signs but aren’t truly ready to bred yet. The younger bucks really don’t know what’s going on and they are just doing what they think they need to be doing. Now the tactics that need to start changing would be the use of scents. Before now you should have been using curiosity scents they need to change to doe in heat and buck scent. Drag lines would be a good way to bring bucks in by using a doe in heat drag scent. Around your stand you can place a buck urine scent. Bucks trying to cut trails may cross your drag line and come in to check out the doe. Remember with drag lines you want to walk from your stand to out of range crossing or walking down well used trails or funnels. If you walk in with the drag already putting out scent the strongest scent will be were you started the drag. Making the deer follow away from your stand. Now calls you can start using doe bleats and grunts to get the attention of nearby bucks. You should also be able to rattle in a buck wanting to defend his territory. Start soft and work our way into more aggressive calling leave 15 minutes between calling sequences. Bucks following a doe will make soft quick short grunts as they follow the trail of a doe. It’s time to move in from feeding sources like fields to ridges were bucks will chase does up and down hopefully the does will run right by your stand leading the bucks right to you. If you have a secluded field that does are still using it may be worth setting up a doe decoy for a morning or evening hunt but I would stick to the hard woods for a afternoon , late morning, or early evening hunt. All in all you need to start spending as much time in the woods as possible as bucks start chasing does the amount of activity you will see during shooting hours is going to increase especially since the moon visibility is going down. You should start finding rub lines and scrapes if you haven’t already. Rub lines are a great place to hang a stand and you know if there following it in the morning or evening. Get to the woods and spend as much time as possible there because it will pay off. First day below freezing This morning October 23rd 2013 will be the first day this season that the temperature will be below freezing. How does that affect your hunt and what can you expect from a cold morning hunt. What’s the best way to stay warm when you get to your stand and how should you dress for the cold? With the weather dropping below freezing we figure we need to talk about hunting when the temperature starts below freezing.
Let’s start with what you can expect from hunting when the temperature starts below freezing and there is a frost on the ground. First it’s going to be loud when you’re walking to your stand so take your time and walk slow. You will be able to hear animals walking from a longer distance than normal. Expect to get the coldest right when the sun comes up and the heat pushes the cold down to the ground. The deer will be extra skittish because they realize that they are making lots of noise as they move about the woods. Be cautious of making any noises when you’re sitting in your stand noise travels farther in the cold so deer will be able to hear you from longer distances. Remember that when it comes to calling start with soft calls and gradually move to louder calls. If you start out aggressive than any deer that are close may spook and not come in. When it comes to dressing for your hunt and staying warm the best way to do that is in layers. The key to dressing warm and walking into your location is to not start sweating. If you sweat on the way in then when you get to your stand and sit still you will be wet and get cold so your hunt will be cut short because you won’t be able to stand the cold long enough. You should carry the heavy coats and layers in with you and put them on when you get to your location and start cooling down after your walk in. tight layers need to be the bottom were as loose layers need to be outer layers. What needs to be in between is a layer that will soak up and pull the sweat from your body. If your clothes aren’t pulling the sweat away from your body it will stay against your skin and you will get colder than you normally would. The deer to stay warm will be in sunny areas and will move to stay warm. Expect to see deer moving in the morning to sunny areas to warm up from being bedded down in the cold all night. Most stands will work great on a day like today if they are on a well-used travel route. Good luck hunting today on the first day with the temperature starting below freezing. Make sure to share your thoughts on hunting when it’s cold and staying warm don’t forget to share your pictures and stories with us. October 21st-27th The weather has made its turning point to cold days and colder nights and in the next few weeks we will probably be waking up with frost on the grass and windows. The leaves have started turning and falling off some of the trees and the fresh cold smell is filling the air. It’s really starting to feel like deer season here in the Ozarks. Let’s take a look at the weather and moon phases for the next week and determine what the best days to hunt will be.
Starting with the weather this week we have a chance of rain Monday and Tuesday the 21st and 22nd. The entire week the temperature is staying in the mid to high 50’s and low 60’s. Other than Tuesday the 22nd and Saturday the 26th it’s going to be mostly sunny or sunny. Just looking at the weather it’s hard to determine the best day to hunt other than Wednesday because of the 14 mph wind and late showers on Tuesday the 22nd. Looking at the moon it doesn’t seem like a big factor because the visibility doesn’t drop below 50% until Sunday the 27th. The entire week the moon will be losing visibility starting out in the 90% range and dropping to 46% by the end of the week. Just looking at moon phase I would have to say the end of the week will be the best hunting. Most the deer activity has been going on at night the last few weeks and as this week ends and into next week the daytime deer activity will increase because of the lower amount of light the moon is putting off. Putting the weather and moon phase together you’re looking at the end of the week to be the best time to hunt. Picking one day for the best hunting would have to be Saturday the 26th the reasoning behind that is because the 55% visibility will be taken down by the partly cloudy skies. A 10% chance of rain gives me good hopes that the clouds will be more than expected and the night time deer activity will be cut down drastically. With the high expected to be 59 degrees and the low at 39 degrees it will be chilly. Don’t count out the 8 mph SSW wind you will be able to use that to your benefit with curiosity scents. Shifting Tactics As the temperatures drop this week into the mid 60’s for highs and low 40’s for lows your hunting tactics should change. As the first phases of the rut get closer you should start looking for early sign from bucks marking their territory. In this article we will discuss how your tactics should be changing and what early sign you should start looking for. If you’re going to be bow hunting in the next few weeks you’re going to want to read this article.
The last few weeks you should have been focusing on water sources and cool shaded areas that get a good breeze due to the heat. With the temperatures dropping into the mid 60’s for highs and low 40’s for lows it’s time to shift your focus from water sources to feeding and bedding areas. Places that get direct sunlight that are also hidden away like clear cuts, glades, and small fields will also be good areas right now. The deer should start moving more during day time hours from feeding areas at night to bedding areas that get sun to keep them warm. You should be able to find deer moving around and bucks should be starting to develop a pecking order and create their own territory. Now that the bucks are developing a pecking order and splitting off to find their own territory you should start finding rubs and scrapes. The scrapes you find right now might never be touched again and most likely practice scrapes but it’s still worth noting. Come the rut and you might be sitting in the wrong area. Right now the scrapes are just telling you that there is a buck claiming that area and always a good sign. Focus mostly on rubs because those are what other deer use to figure out what deer are in that area. You might have multiple bucks rubbing the same tree but mostly the rubs are marking the trail the deer are using. If you’re finding rubs and rub a line right now that’s a good indicator you have a buck hanging out in that area. You should spend some time scouting that area trying to find a well-used trail and set up watching it. With any luck you should have both bucks and does walking by if you have found the right trail and are in the right area. Taking it all in and shifting your focus from the water sources to the trails leading from feeding to bedding areas using the new sign your finding you should put yourself on deer and fill your tag. Be prepared to shift your tactics to food sources as the fruits begin to ripen and the crops get cut and removed. Throughout the hunting season you will see food sources come and go and you need to be prepared to shift your hunting area. Best of luck and remember to share your pictures with us when you fill your tag or head to the woods. Tom's trail camera pictures Great pictures Tom this is a great buck I love the name you gave him “I call him "Samari".” I hope you are able to put a bullet or arrow in him and fill your tag with this monster I look forward to seeing the picture of him on the ground. Everyone make sure to share your pictures with us by sending them in and I will get them posted for everyone to see.
A healthier herd What deer need to be taken out of the herd? Multiple factors come into play when you talk about shooting deer to make your herd healthier. Buck to doe ratio, old deer, messed up racks, and herd numbers. To figure out your total deer herd numbers and what needs to be done you need to do a deer census you can pay to have it done or do it yourself. So let’s talk about the factors in detail in opposite order from when you do your census to when you’re determining what factors you’re going to use and then picking the deer that need to be on your hit list.
To do a census if you don’t want to pay to have it done you’re still going to have to invest time and money into it. Land size will determine how many trail cameras you need to use. Start by getting a map of your property and to scale making a grid on it for one square mile. After you do that you need to figure out the square miles on the property you’re performing your census on then hang your cameras were the lines intersect. Try and put the cameras on deer trails that are used often but are as close to your marks as possible. Leave the cameras up for 2 weeks before you go pull all the SD cards. After you pull the SD cards you need to be able to identify the deer so you can tell them apart. Number each deer and use the numbers for names then count bucks, does, and fawns and separate them in to categories. After you have separated the deer into those categories you need to separate those into mature and immature. Do your research for that area by talking to the conservation department to determine what number of deer your property can support. If you aren’t happy with the number you may need to plat food sources for the deer to feed on. But also talk with them to find out a good buck to doe ratio for your area. Go through your buck pictures if you want to grow bigger bucks and determine what bucks you want taken out of the herd for better genetics on your property. Remember if you have a lot of older deer on your property mostly bucks but does will do it to. They will run off younger deer and keep them away from your property. After you have determined what old deer and bad genetic bucks you want taken off your property determine how many does you need to have taken off your property. Now you have your ratio in check you need to know if your herd numbers are in check and your property can handle those numbers. Most likely you won’t have the time or tags to do all this in one year so you may need to recruit hunters to help you harvest deer off your property. Make sure you communicate with them what deer can be shot show them the trail cam pictures and tell them were to hunt if you know were the deer you want shot is hanging out there’s know point in letting them hunt for specific deer if they aren’t in the area those deer are. Remember to be able to keep your numbers in check you’re going to have to shoot does every year and more does then bucks. There is nothing wrong with telling friends and family they can hunt does on your property and there are lots of hunters out there that would be happy to be able to hunt does to put food on their table and fill there freezer with meat. Attachacam.com I have recently been in contact with the Attachacam Company and have received my Attachacam. I will be taking it with me next week when I head to the woods I have already mounted it to my crossbow it was super easy to mount and adjust. I will be writing a full review on the Attachacam after next weekend when I get some footage. So far it has been easy to use and I can’t wait to take it to the woods with me. Make sure you go check out Attachacam and let them know The Hillbilly sent you there way.
• The Attachacam is designed by a hunter, for hunters. • Mount the Attachacam to a firearm barrel or scope, bow stabilizer, paintball gun, bicycle, or boat railing to capture your memorable moments! • The Attachacam is not limited to hunting, the possibilities are endless!! • The Attachacam allows you to mount your camera interchangeably on various accessories. No need to remove the camera before remounting! • The durable design also makes Attachacam adaptable for use with hunting rifles and shotguns. • Attachacam is a tooled aluminum anodized camera mount, which means NO rusting! • Easily capture and hits, misses, and all action from the shooters perspective, Hands-Free! • Attach your GoPro Tripod Adapter to the Attachacam! • MADE IN THE USA water is life Water is life. What does that mean? Why does it matter? These are questions that will affect your hunt. Deer are mammals just like humans and we are mostly water deer have to be able to sustain their water intake just like we do because they can become dehydrated. Plants need water to become bright and healthy and what I will refer to as green.
Water is life that means that without water everything would die. To go more in depth with this when it rains plants soak up the rain and green up. When the plants green up they are healthier for deer and they have more water in them. Plants greening up matters to hunters because of the way it changes whitetail deer feeding patterns and habits. If there are grassy areas that seem dead or trails that have grass on the edges deer will feed or browse these areas when it’s raining or has been raining. Deer will change their travel patterns when it has been raining or is raining to travel through these areas. The reason deer will change their travel pattern to be able to browse on greened up food sources is because of the water and health factors they are able to benefit from by eating the greened up plants. When greened up plants aren’t around deer browse as they travel through hardwoods eating twigs, leaves, and whatever else they can find. Most of the food they eat is dry and doesn’t have the water in it like greened up food. It’s kind of like if you had the option of eating candy or bread. What one sounds better? Most people will pick the candy it’s not healthy but it’s still more desirable. What can you do if it’s raining or has been raining? Well to start with you need to know were the possibility for greening up could happen and set up in areas that have that possibility. Know your area and keep greening up in mind as the season moves on and if it rains. Pictures from the Hillbilly CommunityAnything but ideal Well it was another weekend without filling a tag and another weekend when the weather was anything but ideal. With thunderstorms, heavy fog, and 80 degree tempratures the hunting conditions weren’t even ok but I was still able to turn the trip into a positive one by setting up my treestand, ground blind, and checking trail cameras the trip was still productive and I will still give you the full report.
Day one of my trip started out by loading my pack up with my treestand, latter sticks, calls, scents, crossbow and hiking about a mile and a half into the bottom and setting up the treestand by the time I got to the location I was dripping in sweat and the mosquitoes were eating me alive I turned on my ThermaCell and it was like a light got turned on they were gone I checked my trail cam and had over 300 pictures. About the time I got into my treestand it started thundering and sprinkling after about 30 minutes it started to lightning and the skies opened up with rain I put up with it and it died down after about 2 hours. My ThermaCell ran out and the bugs came back in force. When the thunder and lightning started back up I decided not to risk it and climb down from the stand I decided to go check my trail cam at the other locations about half a mile away so I hiked to the other location and on the way the rain started coming down again. I saw movement up the trail and crouched down. There were two deer walking away from me down the trail feeding on the grass going down the trail. With the rain we have been having everything is blooming and greening up so the deer are able to feed all over the place the mature doe circled off to the left and started walking towards me I chose a place about 30 yards away and waited she was walking right on track and I needed her to take one more step I was ready to shoot. She froze in place behind a tree for about one minute she stood behind the tree before running off the other direction. I still don’t know what spooked her, the wind was blowing in my face and her head was behind a tree so I don’t know. The yearling doe ran off with her and I started on my way again. I checked my other trail cam and had over 200 pictures on it all does and fawns but one small buck that has a twin running around. I set out my home made scent re set the trail cam and hiked out. The ground all around the area was destroyed and there were trails leading in all directions. By the time I made it back to camp there was no dry wood so I couldn’t make a fire and it was still raining so I stayed in the car ate dinner and went to sleep. Day two started at 5:00am I looked out the car and couldn’t see 10 yards with a slight mist I figured I would wait it out before walking into the woods. The fog didn’t lift until 10:00 am and when it did it heated up fast it was over 80 degrees before I made it to my locations and without my ThermalCell the bugs were killing me I waited it out until about 2:00 pm and decided it was too hot. I built a ground blind and got out of there. By the time I made it back to camp my shirt was soaked and I was beat. You may ask why I gave up just because it was hot and here’s the answer. I process my own deer and like to let them hang for a few days with it being so hot I wouldn’t be able to do that. On top of that there were storms moving in and the weather had the deer screwed up that second day deer weren’t moving and sure I could have sat near the pond knowing they would be coming for water when they did get up but I felt that the better idea was to leave the area and get my scent out most of all. So far I will say that the Black Rack by Flextone isn’t all that exciting and I will be emailing Flextone about some questions I have. First off my findings are they are hard to store in a position that’s easy to grab use and put back second when you start using them the release a smell that I can’t describe. It’s almost like carbon or something like that. They do sound good and I will use them throughout this season and see how they work as the season goes on. The ThermaCell is amazing it does have a scent so I don’t know how that will play out but I do know there is a big difference when it’s on compared to when its off and a must if the bugs are bad. I got about 24 hours out of the fuel and about 18 hours out of the wick that has the repellant on it. All in all it was a productive weekend for not filling a tag I was able to check trail cams and set up my stands. I was able to get a feel for when the deer are coming to each of the stands they are still using the mineral licks and the acorns are falling the woods are filled with them. I am ready for the temperatures to fall I would even be happy if the plummeted. And I will be doing more research on what the deer do during the rain and what you should do. First trip of October The plan for my weekend is to head to the woods when I get off on Wednesday morning and hunt the bottom land where the deer cams have been set up. I will be hunting from my climber and staying all day. Depending on how it goes I will probably hunt the same stand on Thursday. I will be trying out the Black Rack by flextone. I haven’t stepped foot down in this area for about a month and after this trip I don’t plan on hunting it again until November giving it time to get back to normal before I start hunting it hard the two weeks before rifle season.
I’m giving the area that I saw the ghost a month off since there was so much pressure in there from the forestry department cutting up downed trees. I will probably hunt it sometime next week or the week after. The goal is to be in the woods before 10:00am with my stand set up and in the tree before 11:00am. The Hillbilly buck grenade will be out and ready to bring in curious deer to check it out. The grenade is filled with a special mixture that will peak curiosity of most deer. With oil and a water base liquid the scent should be flowing through the air at high and low levels. Weather it rains or heats up the scent should only strengthen as the weather changes. I will also be putting together my homemade scent and will let everyone know how it works. I will be camping in the deer woods so that I save time, gas, and sleep. Check back throughout the day for updates. They will be posted on the Deer Camp Talk page under Talking from the Treestand. I will also be adding pictures and updates to the Hillbilly Huntin Facebook page if your note friends with us on Facebook you’re missing out. The goal is going to be to catch deer moving from feeding to bedding area and to try and get bucks to come in thinking there area is under attack from another buck. I will be using grunts and antlers to mimic bucks in the area and the goal is to have the dominant buck come in trying to run them out. Good luck this week everyone and let us know about your next trip to the deer woods. We can’t wait to see how this season unfolds and put meat in the freezer. Share your pictures and stories and you never know by sharing with the Hillbilly Huntin community you may get something in return. Again good luck this season! recent submited pictures Well we have had hunters from the Hillbilly Huntin community that have been putting meat in the freezer recently. Everything from hogs to elk, we have also been getting some pictures of bucks making the hit list of community members. Make sure you send us your pictures so we can add them to the site. Also if anyone knows who and where the white and brown buck was shot please email us so we can let people know. The picture was sent to me from a friend that got it sent to him from his dad and his dad got it from his uncle and no one knows the details of the picture so make sure to share with us.
Next product to review On Wednesday I will be trying out the Black Rack by flextone according to the website this is how they describe them: The BLACK RACK can outperform conventional rattling products in THREE ways:
|