Not today, but a good morning !!

Cameron came home sick from school yesterday .....So he stayed home in bed. Carson and myself were in the stand at 0545.

0630 a Nice buck came in from the East, he just passed thru on the edge of the brush heading North. Didnt see how many points and got no shot.

0730 two little ones came up from the north, they were tiny. We decided to let em pass. They hung around for about 30 minutes about 40 yards out. Was hoping something bigger was with them but no luck.

Around 0900 another good sized one, dont know if it was a buck or doe crossed the lane out to the east heading north. No shot there either.

It was COLD .... 22 but No Snow yet. Carson has a Dr. appt this afternoon so I wont go back out either.

Maybe tomorrow morning. They are around and we didnt scare any of them. Gonna be colder tomorrow. We will make provisions for that.

 

After a big bowl of Chili I couldnt just sit around all afternoon. Went back out by myself from 1300-1630. It came a few skiffs of snow and some Ice pellets. The pellets were falling when i quit. Didnt see anything but Squirrels. I hate cleaning them in the dark and sure wont when its below 32. Back tomorrow morning with Carson, Cameron still has a fever so he cant go till next weekend.

With the heater its bearable. Had to close the south window for awhile as the snow and ice were blowing in, not to mention that Artic Breeze .......

 

Promising again this morning. Saw two gooderns, but again no shot. One for sure was a good sized buck, looked to be around 10pts or better. So far have seen everything before 0930.

It started snowing about 0830 .... still comming down hard now. A good inch or better on now. I think it will be easier to sport them with a white background tomorrow .... one can hope.

I have went days and days before without seeing hide-nor-hair so Im not dismayed.

If it stops snowing before mid afternoon might go back out, but it sure is commin down hard.

 

I make REAL CHILI ....... NO BEANS ..........

Maybe a Rolaids latter on but no other side effects.

 

1415 and still snowing. Although not as hard as earlier. Official measurement is 3". Will wait till tomorrow morning. Probably wont be any school as the back country roads will be deemed unsafe for school buses. If one cant go done can here.

 

NOW ... Im starting to get aggravated. Every time I pass on the first deer this happens. No school today but the boys would not roll out of the warm bed this morning ....bunch of wooses. So out I went by myself. Nothing till 0910 .... then from the west about 100 yards out "7" of them came trotting in single file, down thru the trees, jumped the cross fence and off they went ..... again no shot.

If twiddle-dee and twiddle-dum can hack it (gonna be single digits in the morning) will have Carson in the South stand. Thats where 10 of the 13 have come from. The Bawana will be with me. He keeps raggin me and Carson about not shooting the first ones Saturday morning .... he is probably right.

 

Didnt go out till noon today. It got above 32 as the snow was melting off the roof of my stand. Didnt turn the heater on till 1530, or put on my gloves. The temp started dropping at 1530 and was again well below 32 when I packed it in at 1715. NOTHING even spotted today. I thought they would be moving more with the warm up ..... but NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. Nothing but squirrels and wood peckers.

Back out tomorrow morning.

Went down to my brother-in-laws last night. He two passed on two Saturday Morning and now same as me. The kids were back in school today so by myself rest of the week.

 

Hunting over bait is ILLEGAL in Missouri. Its not illegal to put out feeders or bait BUT it must be totally removed and no trace 10 days prior to opening day.

However if you Plant corn, soy beans, ect in a food plot it is not considered baiting. Also putting out corn, ect in cattle or goats, sheep, feeders, IF you run cattle its OK. Mineral Blocks or salt licks are legal also. Putting out apples, grains that are NOT natural to the site is baiting.

In the fall I put out corn feeders starting about the middle of Sept. I have them removed by the middle of Oct. I have them set to feedd half hour after sunrise and half hour before sunset. The trail cams show most feeding by deer is at night. they also attract lots of squirrels, crows, turkey and all the preditors that prey on them, coyotes, bobcats, owls.

Ever wonder why all the deer hunting video shows are in Texas ? Baiting there is legal. I agree that its not hunting. Just go to the store and shoot some in the freezer case .......

 

36 this morning at 0330. Will get into the 40s today. Still good weather for hunting. Will be in the stand by 0545 ..... Maybe today ......

 

its been a long 5 days. Nothing ALL day today. Will take tomorrow off ..... Im tared. Will go to the south stand Friday Morning, maybe a little change of scenery.

 

Harvest report from first weekend from the Mo dept of Conservation:

"The combination of cold, snow, and mostly bare tree tops turned it into one of Missouri’s most successful November firearms deer hunting weekends in years: 91,460 harvested compared to 61,446 when it was unseasonably warm last year."