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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
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Over hunting Are you biting at the bit for every chance to get to the woods and hunt the amazing animal I call dinner? Something you need to think about is over hunting an area. In this article we will talk about over hunting a stand and using different locations. If your bow hunting and gun hunt it’s like baseball, you wouldn’t pitch the same pitcher every day. If you have a stand or area you plan on hunting opening day of rifle season you need to plan it so that it’s hot on opening day.
If you’re like me you want to spend every minute you can in the deer woods hunting. If it was up to me I would hunt the entire time I wasn’t at work but the sleep deprivation would kick in and I wouldn’t be worth a darn. Between bow season and rifle season here in Missouri I can deer hunt for almost five months straight. When you have five months to hunt you have to be able to hunt multiple stands for more than one reason. The reasons are weather, pressure, moon phase, and phase of the rut we will manly talk about pressure in this article. Every time you go to your stand you’re bringing outside scents with you no matter how hard you try not to. Opening morning of deer season hundreds of hunters will flood the woods and bring scent with them. The problem is your bringing that much scent with you if you hunt the same area every time it’s like you are a hundred people the scent will change the pattern of the deer in your area if you use the location to much. You should try to only hunt a location no more than three days in a row then give it a week or more off staying out of the area completely. That’s why it’s so important to have multiple stand locations when it comes to hunting for long periods of time and over multiple seasons. Off the top of my head I have 4 locations I will be focusing on this year I hunted two of them pretty hard last week and this week the other two the weather wasn’t right to hunt them. Throughout the season you should be able to try new locations on a whim when the stars align and that’s why you need to always have a topographical map with you. Pressure will turn deer nocturnal and even if you’re the only one hunting that stand your scent represents a form of pressure that the deer will notice. Too much pressure could ruin your chances of seeing that mature buck. If you want to hunt a stand opening day of rifle season you need to plan it like major league baseball manager when they are approaching the post season and trying to decide what pitcher matches up best with the other team. The weather will play into it but you have to plan backward from opening day on where you want to hunt. If you’re going to hunt all of deer season makes sure to give your locations to heat up and don’t over hunt one stand it may be the prime spot but if you over hunt the stand it won’t be so keep it cool don’t hunt the same stand to often and make sure to give it at least a week off before opening day so that the deer don’t get to pressured and your prime spot stays the hot spot for those mature deer. the feeling of living To be close is a feeling of living and a pursuit of emotions that cannot be replicated in any other way. What does that mean and how can you apply it to your life? The meaning of close to me might be different then to you. The emotions I get from being close to something will be different than yours but we all feel a sense of accomplishment when we can get close and close the distance.
To work and practice getting as close as possible is both patience and skill. Then more knowledge you gain and the more practice you have the better you will be at closing the distance on whatever it is your pursuing. This applies throughout life in almost everything we do not just hunting. You pursue love, money, God, family, relationships, and animals. In all of those things listed and many others as you close the distance the feeling of living grows and when you are able to get no closer and you achieve your goal the feeling of accomplishment is achieved. You are living life and not settling with what you have out of reach you are working to get closer and closer to your goals. When you can take something that you weren’t close to there is a sense of accomplishment but it’s not the same as when you are able to take something that is close. The harder you work and the more effort you put into something the more accomplishment you will feel and in turn the more you will get the feeling of living the adrenaline that it creates is like a drug that is addicting. When you apply this concept into hunting the challenge begins. The challenge is no longer will I see an animal or how far away can I be from it and still take the shot. It changes to how close can I get to my game how much can I outsmart my game with knowledge, patience, and skill to achieve the ultimate goal of being right next to the animal before you take it. The adrenaline rush you will get when a deer is 5 or 10 yards away feels your body with a drug that cannot be reproduced. They say adrenaline is a drug and is addictive I can see that. There are adrenaline junkies all over the world looking for their next rush. Jumping out of a plane or doing something stupid may create that rush of adrenaline but being close to an animal and being able to use everything you have to outsmart an animal that is an export on staying alive will give you the rush and satisfaction you’re looking for. Every time you get closer and closer the more adrenaline it will cause to rush through your body and the feeling of living will be within you. September 23-29th Well it’s Monday morning and I’m going to preview the next week of hunting and days that I think should be the best. Now what I’m using to come up with my thoughts are the moon and weather. Since I don’t have the weather for were you hunting I’m predicting for southern Missouri were I hunt. If the weather is drastically different in your area message me and we will figure out the best days to hunt for you.
This week the temperature looks like its staying in the mid to upper 70’s until the end of the week when it drops into the low 70’s for the high and high 40’s for the low with thunderstorms and showers for the weekend. The moon is getting les visible every day and on Friday it will be below 50% meaning less light for deer to travel by at night. That means more movement during the day and more opportunities of seeing the deer walk past your stand during shooting hours. The begging of the week will be mostly sunny with little to no cloud cover and the weekend will be stormy. The best day I see to be in your stand would be Friday before the storms come in. the pressure from the storm will be felt by the deer and get them up and feeding before the storm hits. They will probably be feeding all day or at least on their feet. My set up would be get to the woods before day light and hunt a well-used trail to a feeding area. And I would stay in the stand all day until after dark. Bring water, thermacell, and a jacket for when it cools down. With a 9 mph wind expected use curiosity scents that will carry through the woods. 
Opening Week Well its opening week of bow season starting today. It’s time for me to try out my new Mid Atlantic X system broadheads on a Missouri whitetail. I thought my first week of vacation was in November but I was wrong I got opening week of so the rest of the week I will be off work and in the woods a good portion of it. The weather report for here isn’t so exciting Sunday the 15th opening day is the only day that will be nice the rest of the week I will be expecting thunderstorms and showers. The good part about it is the full moon falls on the 19th. It doesn’t matter what the weather is doing I will be in the woods on the 18th and 19th.
Sometime through the week I have to work on our camper so we can use it in November for two weeks. We have boards that are rotted out seals that need to be filled. Lots of work to be done. This is a surprise week of vacation so I have no real plans so I’m going to make the best of it in the woods and try and get an early season buck on the ground. Here is a look at the opening week of bow season moon phase calendar the best days will be the 18th and 19th so if you can only pick a few days to be in the woods make sure it’s those. Good luck everyone and I will try and do some posts from the woods. Make sure to keep an eye on the Deer Camp Talk page the blog to check out is called Talking from the treestand. Interest and commitment There is a difference in hunters and by that I mean you have to know the difference between interest and commitment. Being a hunter can bring families and friends together and they can also tare them apart. You can be a hunting freak or you can be a casual hunter. What defines you as a hunter is the way you look at hunting and why you do it. How you stand for hunting in bad times and good shows the type of hunter you are.
When I say there is a difference in hunters I can prove it to you like this: someone I know is married he is an avid hunter and one of the most experienced deer hunters I have ever met. His wife’s birthday falls on opening weekend of rifle season every year and she knows that he won’t be around and will be in the deer woods every year for her birthday. They have worked out ways to celebrate her birthday before or after deer season. On the other hand I know guys that will miss opening day because the team the follow has a football game or because the 5th cousin is having a party for getting a job. Then you have the freaks that plan their wedding and kids around deer season and save their vacation and sick days all year for deer season. When you have an interest in hunting it’s easy to make excuses and find reasons to miss out on a day of the hunting season. When you’re committed to hunting it doesn’t matter what the weather is or what’s going on you find a way to get to the deer woods a hunt as much as possible without losing your job that pays for you to be able to hunt and by new gear. When you interested in hunting you start thinking about it a month or so before the season and you start getting ready a week before. When you committed to hunting you scout, plan, and prepare for hunting all year long and you find reasons to talk about hunting in every conversation. Yes I said hunting can tare apart families and build them! Hunting can ruin friendships and create a lifelong bond. What I mean by this is if one person in the relationship and yes a friendship is a relationship doesn’t understand the meaning and passion the other puts into hunting it can ruin the relationship. When one person doesn’t understand why and doesn’t truly want to understand the relationship is set for a rocky path that will be an uphill battle the entire time. Do I have pointers on how to convince a non-hunter that has no interest in hunting how to become interested? Honestly no, there are things you can do, try, explain, and show the other person what it is that makes you the type of hunter you are but there is nothing that can make them understand. When I say it can build relationships I’m not lying! When you can share something you truly love no matter what it is your relationship will grow. When you can share a passion with someone special and show them why you have the passion you have your doing something that you can bond over. What you run into is that most people that have never hunted or spent time in the woods have closed themselves off to it and have a wall built with their mind already made up and nothing you do will change it. You passion and love for the sport of hunting will not rub off and they won’t understand. The other person will say things like “you’re putting hunting before your family” or “hunting means more to you than your family”. The truth about it is if you hunt the way I do you’re not putting hunting before your family hunting doesn’t mean more than your family and the way I can prove that is this. When I’m hunting I’m working to provide for my family I’m carrying on traditions that will be passed on to my kids and I’m spending time in the cold, wind, and rain to make sure my family will have meat in the freezer if something happens and we don’t have the money to run to the store and pick up meat to eat. On top of that wild game is healthier than what you buy at the store deer meat for example is lean and there’s not much fat in it. Yeah I hunt because I love it but I love it for the reasons that make me the man I am. The reasons I love hunting and the reasons you hunt may be a little different but what makes hunters become committed hunters or freaks all boil down to a few things. Traditions and heritage are among the biggest. Some traditions have been passed on far beyond the time anyone can tell you when they started and that brings in heritage since the beginning of time hunting has been a way of life now that we have stores to run to and buy our food it’s at a pivotal point and must be carried on. As a hunter we won’t to do better and be more consistent the thrill of the chase and the feeling we get when we put a tag on a deer can’t be reproduced. When you look forward to the sound of leaves crunching in the distance and you know it’s a deer walking your way. When you’re challenging yourself to outsmart one of North Americas oldest and wisest big game animals you get feelings of accomplishment that you can’t get any other way. When two people that have two different opinions on something and were raised different you have to be able to show them why you’re the way you are and when they never allow themselves to get those feelings you can never expect them to understand. Your options are to either end the relationship or figure out a way to make it work. When traditions, heritage, and love are in play it will be almost impossible to stop it but finding a way to spend time the rest of the year doing thing with the person that doesn’t share your views may work. If that doesn’t work and what you do for the person the rest of the year isn’t enough than you are trying to paddle up a creek with no paddle. It’s hard trust me I know! In the end it doesn’t matter if you’re a casual hunter or a freak what you put into hunting you will get out of it. When times are rough and you haven’t put a tag on a deer in years but you still go out as much as you can and don’t sell your camouflage and give up you are dedicated and try and learn from every season. The dedicated never give up and will find a way to fill there tag by finding new places to hunt or more time in the woods. As this article has rambled on hopefully you are building relationships instead of destroying them by hunting Pictures sent in
Archery survey I received my Missouri archery game survey today if you don’t know what that is it’s a free survey you send in for and every time you go out hunting between September 15th and November 15th you log the animals you see and how many hours you spent in the woods. I think it’s a great thing that every hunter should do. Even if you’re not hunting every day logging the animals and how many gives the conservation department a better idea of population levels of all animals. Hunters are the eyes and ears for state conservation departments. Even if you don’t do the official survey keeping a log of the animals you see each season will help you better manage your hunting property.
The Missouri archery game survey is a free all you have to do is go to the Missouri department of conservation website fill out the information and they will send it to you. You’re going to be in the woods anyway and why not help out the state conservation department and keep track of the animals you see. You may ask yourself what’s in it for me. Well by keeping track of the animals you see and sending in the survey and the more hunters that do the survey the more accurate the survey will be. What does the survey do? The survey numbers get compiled and the data is evaluated after that they use the information to determine if season limits and length are where they should be then adjusted accordingly. From the survey you will be able to tell what you need to do on your property for game management. For example if you notice over a few years that your turkey, squirrel, and rabbit populations are slowly or dramatically decreasing and your predator populations are increasing you would know you need to do some predator hunting on your property. If you have a lot of squirrels and your deer population is down you could saw maybe I need to shoot fewer deer off this property and shoot more squirrels because they are eating the majority of the acorns and deer are having to move from your property to find food. On a personal hunters level the survey will help you determine the population in your hunting are and help you manage your property better. There is a cause and effect with everything and the ecosystem has to stay balanced. When the scale is weighted more on one side or the other the habitat gets thrown off and different aspects of your property will be affected in multiple ways from other population levels to food sources. The land can only support certain levels of each animal for them to grow and prosper in the healthiest way to their full potential. If you don’t want to do the official survey do one for yourself and have the other hunters that use the property to do the same thing. Take all the surveys add up the numbers and hours spent in the woods and determine what you need to do on your property to better manage it. Think about the effects of each game species in your area and manage it accordingly. If you are wanting deer and turkey figure out what you need to do to make them prosper. The survey will give you the numbers your job is to figure out what you need to do to effectively manage your property. The same thing goes for public land. By doing the survey and passing on your information to other hunters and comparing the numbers they get with yours you can determine what needs to be done in that area the more hunters you get involved the better it will be and the better managed the property will be. Not every hunter will care and go along with the plan especially on public land the key is to get as many hunters on your side of the fence for game management. By doing a survey every year you will be able to see your game management in work and see what you need to do differently or how it needs to change. By managing game effectively you will see bigger more healthy animals on your property and your results should improve on the amount of game you harvest. The only negative aspect of the survey is taking the time to fill it out other than that there isn’t anything negative about it. When I say hunters are the eyes and ears of the state conservation department I mean hunters out number state conservation employees and the more eyes and information the compile the better the conservation department can do their job. When they do surveys there aren’t as many and they are spread out. So the numbers might not be accurate state wide by hunters keeping track and reporting back to the conservation department the better it will be. People want to see bear, elk, and mountain lion hunts here in Missouri and it will never happen until they have a good grasp of population levels. By helping the conservation department all you’re doing is helping yourself and making it possible to continue the sport we all love so much. In the end it’s up to every hunter to decide what they want to do and we all have responsibilities remember you’re not doing the survey just for you you’re doing it for the state and every other hunter out there to preserve our hunting traditions and rights. I don’t see anything bad or really time consuming about it along with no reason not to do the survey but that’s my opinion. When bow season starts we will be adding a page for your game survey that will give you the opportunity to share what you see with other hunters across the state and country. Let’s see what we find and compile our own survey to determine and help out other hunters all over the country. September trip I took my trip to the deer woods and was rather pleased with my findings. No I didn’t have a monster mature buck on my trail camera but all of my mineral sites had been used a lot and I had a lot of does on camera. I did have two bucks on camera and they look to be twins. Beyond the trail camera this will be about what my findings are and how I will use them.
My trail camera had a lot of pictures but nothing major two young bucks and lots of does not to mention I got pictures of a fawn and that makes me happy. The reason seeing a fawn on camera makes me happy is because that means that the doe feels safe bringing her baby into that area. The key here is that they feel safe if they feel safe then they will be back. When will they be back? Think about this the pressure heats up and more hunters enter the woods deer will be going to where they feel safe and that is this area. If the does are in this area because they feel safe during the rut the buck will be there checking for does. The rut is what I’m looking forward to because the bucks that I’m not getting on camera will be traveling and on their feet looking for the does. Throughout the year I have had pictures of mature bucks moving through so they know about it with the does in the area that means the bucks will move in looking for them. Scents and calls will work well since the area has a lot of does using it often. The second area showed lots of use and promise the problem was my camera in that spot isn’t the best it doesn’t show what setting its on because the LCD screen is broke so I turn it on push buttons and hope for the best. The best wasn’t what I got but its ok. The site doubled in size so I know the deer are using it. The trails around it looked great and every year there is good sign in this area so I’m happy maybe we will get lucky with the camera and will get pictures when we check it again. The third site is so well hidden that it took us two trips to find it. Both cheeto and I stood right next to it and didn’t see it. We found it by following a heavy trail to it and boy was I happy the hole I put the mix in was about the size around of the top of a 44oz cup. When we found it the hole was about the size of the top of a 5 gallon bucket. The stump around it was destroyed and you could see where they had been digging it out. The way we found it should tell you it’s going to be a hot spot for activity on top of that when we were looking for it we had two does walk within 75 yards of us walking around looking for the site they could have cared less about us until we stopped and started watching them. No mix was added to any of the sites on this trip because 3 weeks ago I over loaded the sites so they should be good for a few weeks. The ticks are horrible this season both cheeto and I were covered with hundreds of ticks and that no exaggerating. When we got home we didn’t even go inside we stripped down to our boxers and hosed off in the front yard trying to get as many ticks off as we could before going inside. What I got out of this trip is I have four great spots to hunt and three have mineral sites that are very active. It’s going to be exciting when the bucks start making sign and it’s going to be hard to pick where to hunt opening day. The harder part then picking where to hunt opening day will be what location do I give up for little brother that will be best for him to put a tag on a deer. Oh one site has more raccoons in the area then I have ever seen in one spot. The biggest thing I’m taking away from this trip is that there are a lot of deer in all the locations. This season I’m looking forward to seeing hard work pay off and putting little brother on deer. With all the locations I have to scout there should be ample opportunities to put my tag on a deer. My hopes are it cools down and this 90 degree weather disappears. The ticks they need to go away to and leave me alone. Scout trips are being planned, deer season plans are starting to get put in the works, and the camper work has to start soon if we are going to use it this season so there is lots of work to be done. Good luck and bow season starts in less than 10 days here in Missouri. 
Team BigDogz Well guys I’m here to tell you about a very good friend and the most knowledgeable archer I know. When it comes to the finer points of archery this guy knows his stuff. He hunts with a bow and does IBO 3D archery competitions and places high up in all the competitions he competes in. his name is Big dog and he know has his own archery website. I’m going to tell you a little about him and let you know I’m proud to have him on the Hillbilly Huntin staff.
Guys our staff member and competitive bow shooter goes by Big Dog he calls New York his home state. Big Dog started bow hunting at an age of 14 years and fishing at a younger age than that. When times were tough for his Mother, sister and him he would hunt and fish to provide for them. His father left them when he was 3. He cut wood with an axe starting at 7 years old so they would have heat for the winter as well. It wasn’t a great set of circumstances but they made it through the hard times. Big Dog graduated from high school in 1989 and then went into the military at age 19. He Served 8 years in the U.S Army and defended our country well. After the Military Big Dog worked at numerous places and after years of working his way to the top a great opportunity came his way. Nestle Purina Pet Care gave him a carrier in Dry Foods and he embraced it. Great company. Bid Dog and his wife have been married for almost 20 years and have a son who is 13 years old. Big Dog and his son live, breath, sleep hunting and archery. They travel when able to shoot at National archery competitions as well as supporting their local clubs. He enjoys and is a perfectionist when it comes to archery as well as the mechanics of it. he works on his own equipment / assembly, tuning, arrows etc. he is one of those guys where it’s just not good enough yet and continues to micro adjust his equipment until it meets his standards. He currently promotes Epilepsy Awareness as much as he can. As well as Podium Plus Bowstrings (truly the best strings he has ever used), Robin Hood Videos and Stabilizers (great people ), Alpen Opics, Loc Outdoorz, Truball/Axcel sights, Easton arrows, Hoyt archery, podium plus, and Hillbilly Huntin. As well as his very own BigDogz, this represents all of their beautiful Labrador Retrievers past and present. Archery is a passion of his; he lives life to the fullest and shoots straight. He loves every moment that he is shooting. As you can see archery is his world and he has started his own sight that includes everything about archery. If he doesn’t know how to help you himself he knows someone that can but most likely he has the answers you’re looking for. His website is called teambigdogz (http://teambigdogz.weebly.com/index.html) go check out the site even if you don’t bow hunt and maybe it will get you interested. His website is focused on archery and Hillbilly Huntin is focused on hunting so we have a great combination going and Hillbilly Huntin is happy to promote teambigdogz so go check it out and tell him The Hillbilly sent you. 
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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. 
Weather affects So I have started previewing the week ahead on the best days to hunt according to the weather and moon phase and I thought I would do some explaining on how the weather in coming days affects the present day hunt. With weather being relatively un predictable we have to go off of the weather forecast but that doesn’t mean that it will come true so you may have to do some on the fly judgment calls. I will explain what I look at when I’m trying to predict what days will be best for hunting on solely the weather forecast.
Let’s start with cloud cover and how it affects deer movement. With heavy cloud cover the light produced by the moon and stars is obstructed and void. Deer have better vision than we do but that doesn’t mean they are able to see in the dark. The deer will travel more during the day than at night giving you a better opportunity then a clear night. Clouds work as insulation for the earth and hold the heat it keeping it warmer than if it was clear. That means it’s not as cold and deer won’t have to get up and move around at night to stay warm. Meaning they will hold up until they can see and feel safe moving around. Thunder storms normally come with high winds, thunder, lightning, and rain this takes sight, hearing, and smell out of the equation and eliminates most of the deer’s strongest senses. The deer will buckle down in the cedar and pine trees to protect themselves from the eliminates. Deer rely on their senses to keep themselves alive and when they can’t use them they won’t move until they at least have some of them back. Deer know when a storm is coming and will be up feeding and moving around before the storm. They know they will be buckled down when the storm hits so they want to feed when they can and move to a place they will feel safest. The deer movement will be the most right before a storm and after. Wind is something that most hunters think about but during high winds the deer’s smell receptors get overloaded with different scents and they can’t process how far away they are. Deer will be moving around but will be extra jumpy for a few reasons the sensory system is over loaded and second the noises brought with the high winds effect the hearing. It’s not just high wind that is a problem it’s no winds as well. When there is no wind deer will travel slower trying to catch the slightest scent they can. The deer will be relying mostly on hearing and sight at this point and be skittish. Fog is another problem that gets hunters because deer feel safe under the cover of fog they will stay out feeding longer and moving more when the fog is heavy. This gets hunters because they come in expecting the deer to be to them by a certain time and if there not they move remember when there is a fog to stay in your stand longer because the deer will be moving later to their bedding areas. If your hunting a feeding area it gives you more time to hunt the deer but if your hunting a trail leading to a bedding are you will probably want to stay in the stand longer since the deer will be moving to bed after they have been feeding all morning When it comes to rain showers that is harder to predict the rain makes noise and covers scents but also give deer a better opportunity to travel without making a noise so depending on how hard the rain is will determine the deer movement. If it’s a heavy rain the deer will probably bed down and wait it out until it lightens up and then move around. Remember to freshen your scents if it rains on you when you’re in the stand because the rain will wash or dilute the scents that are in the woods. When I’m looking at the weather forecast I take all of this into consideration when I’m looking at moon phases and timing. You have to remember even under the worst conditions the deer are still in the woods and there is a hunting tactic and place that will work but when you can only hunt a few days a week understanding how the weather affects the deer will help you be successful on your hunts. Many mature bucks are shot every year under weather conditions that are less than ideal for hunting. Always remember you have a better chance putting your tag on a deer when you’re in the woods opposed to being in the house. 
The Ghost I had a week of vacation and was able to spend some time in the deer woods I wasn’t able to put a tag on anything but I did get a lot out of my hunts. I now have a hit list buck for the season that I will tell you about my encounter with. I also got some new gear that I was able to use that I will tell you about. The conditions weren’t perfect but I did learn things from hunting under the conditions. So here is the report of my first bow hunt of the 2013 deer season.
We will start off with my hit list buck for 2013 his name is Ghost. He was a true monster like nothing I have seen in my neck of the woods before. His antlers stuck out two ears length from both sides, main frame 12, eye guards made his ears look small, G2’s at least 12 inches, G3’s were longer the his G2’s, G2’s and 3’s bladed about half way up, the bases almost touched, and his antlers were white. There was no red or brown in his hair it was all grey and that’s why I gave him the name Ghost. I hunted an area I had never hunted but seen good trails and watched bucks cross there all year. I caught movement out of the corner of my eye and when I looked I saw him bed down. He bedded down 100 plus yards down the ridge on the edge of a glade, I was in a climbing treestand and couldn’t quietly get out of the tree. I watched him for over an hour trying every grunt I had I even had two bucks fighting on the other side of the ridge he would look in the direction were the noise came from then look back in the direction the wind was blowing. I was guessing he would walk up the ridge right passed me when he got up but I was wrong. Well not really wrong but I didn’t get a chance to find out. The forestry department showed up to cut up trees that had been blown over. I watch the Ghost stand up and walk away without even a flick of his tale. 
The first day I hunted I was being eaten alive by mosquitos it was a warm day and they were out with vengeance. That night I went to bass pro in Springfield Missouri and bought a ThermaCell it worked great when I used it the next day. I also bought some new gloves they are Realtree stretch fit. The fingers and palm of the hand have grip stuff on it and I didn’t have a problem holding anything. The best part is that they are touch screen capable. I was asked on Facebook when I posted about them why I need touch screen capable gloves. The answer is this I update the site and post on Facebook what’s going on with the hunt and what I’m seeing. Not everyone wants to be on their phone when they are in the woods but with me I want to give the readers of the Hillbilly Huntin website updates when it matters and hopefully be able to help if they are having trouble with something when I’m in the woods.
The first two days I hunted were hot and stormy with full moons the day time deer activity was minimal and the first day I hunted it stormed on me for a few hours and the fog never lifted. I was hunting at the top of a ridge and the deer didn’t make their way up to me during the hunt. The second day the storms held off until that night and came with a fury the deer activity was elevated because the storm that was rolling in but the wind didn’t work in my favor and the deer didn’t use the trail I was set up on. I will be adjusting my stand location a little and scouting a shelf that leads to the ridge the next time I place my stand. On the third day I hunted the weather had changed the temperature dropped and the deer were moving more the problem was the ten mile an hour wind blowing in not our favor. We did see deer but weren’t in shooting distance. There will be plenty more scouting done and the next trip might be mostly scouting. The ticks are still out and are thick. ThermaCells are great and I recommend them to anyone that is in the woods right now. Watch the weather as it changes and when the weather changes the deer patterns will change. Study up on the deer and be prepared to change what you’re doing. Good luck hunting and make sure to share your stories with us. 
Fear The Beard Fear the beard! November is no shave November but I have taken it a step further and been growing mine for a few months I have trimmed it a few times as well. I challenge you to grow your beard all deer season. I have made a deal that if I miss a shot I will shave off my beard and have to re grow it. The deal is I have to take the shot for it to be considered a miss. Just seeing a deer and not shooting doesn’t count as a miss I have to actually take the shot and miss. Who’s up for the challenge? Make sure to send in your beard pictures so we can get the posted on the Fear The Beard page.
Bow season starts tomorrow morningAre you ready Bow season starts tomorrow morning
Spur of the moment hunts When it comes to on the fly hunting in an area you haven’t scouted it gets confusing on were to hunt for the best luck. Not only were to hunt but how to hunt an area you have never been or scouted before that morning gets difficult. In this article we will go over keys to focus on when you’re in a new area and hunting it for the first time without scouting. If you plan on doing some on the fly spur of the moment hunting this is the article you need to read.
If you have a day’s notice or even a few hours your best resource for finding a place to hunt that should be productive is a topographical map. Find saddles and natural travel corridors that affect the deer travel pattern. With the map you should be able to determine hot spots for travel patterns, long gentle ridges are always nice to start out at. The second key is the weather if it’s hot and there hasn’t been a lot of rain you want to find water. Find a trail near a watering hole and set up near it if you have the opportunity to hunt all day. When it’s hot the deer will move all day long to and from watering holes. Curiosity scents are the best way to go when hunting a new area that you have never been. Since everyone uses different scents yours should bring deer in to check it out and see what it is. Almost anything can be used as a curiosity scent the more rare it is used the more effective it will be. When you’re using any scents used the wind and set up were you can watch downwind of the scent putting the scent in an area that you have a shot. My recommendation on how to hunt a new area has lots of variables weather, terrain, phase of the rut, time available, and time of day. If you’re in peak rut and you think there is a lot of deer movement, the sign is good in that area stay put and wait. If you don’t have all day, it’s a mid-day hunt, and you have lots of options with the terrain I would slowly still hunt walking ridges and saddles looking for well used trails. It all depends on the circumstances and every situation is different. You can’t make a call on the best way to hunt because some circumstances call for a little of everything. If you know you will hunt that area again this season find a place you feel will produce a good chance of seeing a deer but don’t sit all day spend some time doing some scouting as you still hunt so the next time you hunt that area you have some idea of the sign that’s around. Ultimately the call is yours on how you hunt and since every hunter has their own preference on how to hunt that makes a big impact on the recommendations. If someone doesn’t like stand hunting and you tell them to after a short time they will be up and moving. Every year I try and find new areas and I won’t have the time to scout the best way to hunt and scout is slowly slipping through the woods in travel corridors looking for sign. Being ready to see deer the entire time is key stay vigilant with your eyes and ears. The slower you move the better your odds are take notes if you find an area you want to hunt but continue to search for other areas. If you don’t find anything as good as what you have already found go back and hunt there. You may think it’s a waste of time but knowing as much as you can about the surrounding area the better your chances are. Make sure to use cover scent and scent away when hunting new areas. Bring extra with you and freshen it throughout the day and hunt. If you jump a deer or see one stay still make slow movements and try and use calls to coax the deer back to you. Most jumped deer that don’t know what you are will circle back and check to see what scared them. In the end finding knew places to hunt is always a plus so no matter the time frame before the hunt don’t waist the chance to hunt a new area. Don’t forget to take a few notes for the next time you are able hunt that area. Use every hunt as a learning experience and you will have a successful hunt you have to put in the work to get the pay off and the more time you spend in the woods the higher your chance is to put your tag on a deer. PicturesScouting When it comes to scouting and figuring out where to hunt, how to approach it, and planning the hunt there are lots of things to consider. Time of year, weather, food sources, and phase of the rut are all things that need to be considered. The biggest thing to think about is what weapon you will be hunting with. So let’s separate this into a few articles so we can go into detail and focus on different aspects of scouting and finding a place to hunt.
First let’s figure out when you will be hunting for early, mid-season, the rut, or late season. In the early bow season there the deer will most likely still be in a summer pattern and that means the bucks will still be in bachelor groups. The weather in early season is normally hot and muggy with lots of bugs and the only thing you can hunt with is a bow so we have answered some questions already. The food sources in early season are normally not around during the other parts of the season and the food sources that are around later in the season aren’t around in early season. The food sources to focus on in early season and the crops and fruits that should be ready to eat or close to ready to eat. Acorns shouldn’t be dropping yet. The foods sources will change fast and when they do you better know were they are. To figure out where to hunt in early season you need to combine the food sources and weather and look at your area. Since it is warm water is going to be a key just like food. Bedding areas aren’t a big thing right now because deer will bed right on field edges and shaded spots to stay cool and beat the heat. Find good trails leading to and from feeding and water sources you should be able to ambush deer all day long on good trails. Since the bucks are probably still in bachelor groups make sure if when you do see a buck you look behind him for others. There is a good chance the mature buck won’t be the first but then again truly mature bucks are loners and won’t be in a group they may have just one other buck with them or there might be five you never know. As the bachelor group brakes apart they will be building territories so being able to call in a buck during this time with grunts and rattles should be easy. The testosterone is rising so the urge to fight and prove themselves can be a devastating time for bucks when it comes to calls. All in all scout the food and water sources look for trails leading to and from along with a secondary trail the bucks are using about 20 yards or so from the main trail. Find all the food sources you can for that area along with water and you should have a successful early season hunt. Early bow season Well its September and here in Missouri that means bow season starts this month on the 15th the temperature and weather changed from last month when it was cool at rainy to the mid 90’s with no rain since our flooding early last month. By now you should have a pretty good idea were your early bow season stands are going to be. The bucks are still in velvet and should be shedding it soon. Let’s talk about early bow season and give you an insight on what the weekend plans intel.
For early bow season the bucks should still be running around together and start separating from the group soon. Your mature bucks even in the summer will stay away from bachelor groups and bachelor groups will be the same age class of bucks. Because mature bucks are loners they don’t stay around the younger bucks. Since the bucks still have their velvet there aren’t going to be rubs to find what you need to look for is heavily used trail from food, water, and bedding areas. The key here is to find the trail 20 or so yards from the main trail the bucks are going to walk parallel to the doe trail about 20 yards away. When you find the well-used heavy trail you want to find the buck trail that should be nearby. Since food sources change throughout the year you need to know what food is available. Crops should be available and fruit trees could possibly be dropping fruit. When the fruit drops be prepared for a feeding frenzy and be ready to adjust your set up. The frenzy may only last a few days but when it does start you will have a great opportunity to put your tag on a monster buck. The reasoning is because the fruit is a snack and not available all you but only at a select time the deer won’t miss the opportunity to feed on the fruit and you shouldn’t miss the opportunity to hunt it. With the lack of rain we are having now and the warm days a good back up spot for extra warm days will be near a water source. Fresh moving streams hidden in the timber would be the best opportunity until they dry up. The problem with streams is pin pointing were the deer will drink from. Look for tracks on the bank and trails leading to the water and setup with good shooting lanes to the water and down the trail. Secluded ponds would be me second choice if they are hidden away in the timber. The reason is because the deer don’t have to walk out into the open to get a drink and if they sense danger they can jump right into cover and feel safe. Deer will drink from pools of water about anywhere but they prefer fresh cool moving water just like we would. My weekend intels heading to the deer woods to check trail cameras and my mineral sites along with a little scouting in the areas I have been seeing deer movement. It’s a cool night tonight and when I look out my window it looks like a clear night so that means the deer should be on their feet and feeding then bedding down before I hit the woods. The good part about that is I’m not going to have to worry about jumping deer away from my sites and it should be safe for me to get in and out without causing much of a disturbance. Cheeto is planning on making the trip with me and I’m excited to show him what I have found this season and talk over the plan for this season. It will be the first time all year we have made it to the woods together. We have a lot of work ahead of us since we are planning on having another person in camp this year. The hunter coming to camp will be my little brother and has been off in the army for a few years so everyone is pretty excited to have him back in camp we just have to get him on some deer and give him the opportunity to tag out. We aren’t only trying to pick locations for us but for little brother as well. It’s my pleasure to put in the work and I just hope I can find a good spot for him if I don’t I will be giving up my hot spot for him to put a tag on his first buck. He won’t be here until rifle season in November and by then I should have a pretty good idea on where the bucks are going to be. We will be taking notes and drawing all over our topo map then analyzing all the details to draw up our plan of attack and scouting trips latter on in the season. Make sure to write down what you see now and keep track of everything. Keeping a log will pay off when you can accumulate lots of information combine it with you knowledge and come up with a plan. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook for updates and information about the trip before I give you a full recap of the trip on Friday. M-I-Z-Z-O-U Well I took my daughter to her 3rd MIZZOU football game and it is the 3rd consecutive season she has got to go to a game and that means she has made it to a game every season since she has been born. Even though this is a hunting website I’m going to give you my thoughts on MIZZOU and tell you how the game was.
It was hot 95 degrees with a 103 heat index. Clouds moved in and it cooled down a little the first quarter was rough but when you look at the other games they all were. Mizzou was playing a team that was undersized, not conditioned, and un able to truly compete at Mizzou’s level. With Mizzou coming out rusty they were able to have the lead in the first quarter by 1 point due to a missed extra point. Mizzou made some changes adapted and ran away with the game the final score was 58-14. James franklin came out shortly after halftime. Franklin looked more like his 2011 self then he did all 2012. And Josey he can flat out run his burst is there and oh man he is back. DGB is an animal and man is he big, fast, and can catch the ball. The offensive line looks better than they did last season that’s not saying much since there was only one player that was able to start all 12 games. I feel like the line will be able to protect Franklin and give him time to get the ball out. Justin Britt is a beast and a monster of a man protecting Franklins blindside. E.j. Gaines should be a receiver the way he picks off balls and I’m glad he is in our backfield. It was a great game to watch from 5 rows up on the 40 yard line and we had a great time. Good luck MIZZOU and I’m excited for next Saturdays game.
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