2005-2006 Hunting Season

January 31^st  – Tuesday - Hunted on farm with Austin in the afternoon - saw zero deer.

January 30^th  – Monday - Hunted on farm in the afternoon - saw zero deer.

January 30^th  – Monday - Hunted on farm in the morning - saw four deer and a huge goobler.

January 29^th  – Sunday - Hunted at Jim's with Amber and Austin in the afternoon - saw one doe.

January 28^th  – Saturday - Hunted on farm with Amber in the afternoon - saw zero deer.

January 27^th  – Friday - Hunted on farm in the afternoon.  Saw two deer - no horns.

January 27^th  – Friday - Hunted on farm in the morning.  Saw seven deer - no horns.

January 26^th  – Thursday - Hunted on farm in the afternoon - saw zero deer.

January 25^th  – Wednesday - Hunted on farm in the afternoon - saw zero deer.

January 23^rd  – Monday - Hunted on farm in the afternoon - saw zero deer.

January 22^nd  – Sunday - Hunted on farm in the afternoon - saw zero deer.

January 21^st  – Saturday - Hunted on farm in the afternoon - saw zero deer.

January 20^th  – Friday - Arrived at the Madison County land just a few minutes before dark.  Due to a meeting, didn't leave work when planned. 

January 19^th  – Thursday - Hunted on the farm in the afternoon.  Saw zero deer.  Saw two bucks on the way.  One was 10 miles from the hunting land and the other 2 miles.  The first was crossing a large hay field two hundred yards or so off the road - medium body and rack.  The second crossed the road in front of me - young buck.

January 18^th  – Wednesday - Hunted at the club in Vina for the afternoon. Harvested doe with muzzleloader -  link to story.  It was a good afternoon - perfect weather.  It had been terrible weather the last two days - heavy rain and high wind warnings.  This day was sunny with blue skies.  Chip Knight and I arrived at the hunting club in Vina for the afternoon hunt - we both harvested a doe on the hunt.  Chip shot a large doe - 115 lbs.

January 16^th  – Monday - Stalk hunted on the farm in the rain for the afternoon.  Saw zero deer.

January 15^th  – Sunday - Hunted on the farm in the afternoon with Austin.  Saw zero deer.

January 14^th  – Saturday - Hunted with Jim on his farm in the afternoon.  Saw one young doe.

January 12^th  – Thursday - Hunted on the farm in the afternoon.  Saw zero deer.

January 11^th  – Wednesday - Hunted on the farm in the afternoon.  Saw zero deer.

January 9^th  – Monday - Hunted on the farm in the afternoon.  Saw zero deer.

January 8^th  – Sunday - Scouted on the farm in the afternoon. Saw two - doe and yearling.

January 8^th  – Sunday - Hunted on the farm. Harvested a 5-point. Link to story.

January 7^th  – Saturday - Hunted on the farm with Amber in the afternoon.  Saw zero deer.

January 7^th  – Saturday - Hunted on the farm in the morning.  I hunted until 9:00am and hadn't seen a deer.  I decided to do a little rambling and headed toward a thicket North of the stand.  I generally hunt the fringes of the thickets not wanting to spook the deer.  I figure eventually I'll catch a buck leaving or going to one of the thickets.  The area I was hunting had 4-5 fresh scrapes and 20+ rubs within 75 yards of my stand.  I've hunted this stand close to a dozen times over the last month and have yet to see a deer from it.  The stand is around 300 yards South of a big thicket that I thought the deer were hanging out in.  When I got to the edge of the thicket, I saw a deer walking toward the South off to my left.  It was a small doe and feed on browse to within 20 yards of me.  There were 4 deer in the group and they moved off to the Southeast never knowing I was there.  I keep looking in the thicket hoping that a buck was hanging around them looking for a girlfriend.  I saw a deer just standing broadside in the thicket around 60 yards away.  It's head was behind a big oak tree and a tangle of vines.  It was darker in color with a saggy back and low hung belly.  I just knew it was a buck.  I used a small tree for a prop and waited for the deer to move.  I needed to make sure it was a buck.  The deer stood there forever!  It didn't move for 30 minutes.  I had a small doe come out of the thicket and walk to 20 yards from me.  I saw me and ran off.  The other deer didn't move.  I think the deer was ready for a boyfriend and just waiting around.  The deer finally moved and I saw it was a big doe.  Two others came out of the thicket and followed her - probably her off-spring from last year.  They got downwind, blew and took off.  I saw 7-8 total deer.  It was exciting!

January 6^th  – Friday - Hunted the Madison County land in the afternoon. Harvested doe with muzzleloader -  link to story.

January 4^th  – Wednesday - Hunted on the farm in the afternoon with Amber. Austin had to get a haircut. Jumped  two deer as we arrived.  Not sure if they were bucks or not.  Looked like medium sized deer.

January 3^rd  – Tuesday - Hunted on the farm in the afternoon with Austin. Amber had basketball practice. Saw two deer. Doe and Yearling.  They came out in a grain field at 300 yards.  It's nice to finally see a deer on the farm.  It's been the worst year in Morgan County since I started hunting there 18-years ago.  A few more years of 37 "hunters choice" days and the automobile insurance companies will have nothing to worry about.

January  2^nd  – Monday - Hunted on Refuge in the afternoon.  Saw zero deer.

January 1^st  – Sunday - Hunted on the farm in the afternoon. Saw zero deer.

December 31^st  – Saturday - Amber and I hunted on the farm in the afternoon. Saw zero deer. Austin was sick.

December 31^st  – Saturday - Hunted on the farm in the morning. Saw zero deer from treestand. Saw 3 deer while scouting

December 30^th  – Friday - Hunted the Madison County land in the afternoon. Saw two but not close enough for muzzleloader.

December 29^th  – Thursday - Hunted on Refuge in the afternoon.  Saw zero deer.

December 29^th  – Thursday - Dove hunted at Jim's in the mid-day.  Had a good time - lots of birds in the field when we arrived at 11:30am.  We saw quite a few birds - most were high and fast.  It was fun - killed a few.

December 28^th  – Wednesday - Hunted on the farm with Kim, Amber and Austin in the afternoon. Saw zero deer.

December 27^th  – Tuesday - Hunted on the farm in the afternoon. Saw zero deer.  I've seen 20 deer all season in Morgan County.  All but two came on three sightings - pitiful hunting this year in Morgan County!  I normally see around 20 deer every hunt on the Madison County property.

December 26^th  – Monday - Hunted on the farm in the afternoon. Saw zero deer.

December 24^th  – Saturday - Hunted on the farm in the afternoon. Saw zero deer.

December 23^rd  – Friday - Hunted on the farm with Kim, Amber and Austin in the afternoon. Saw zero deer.

December 22^nd  – Thursday - Hunted on the farm in the afternoon. Saw zero deer.

December 22^nd  – Thursday - Hunted on the farm in the morning.  Had a coyote come by right after daylight.  I shot it - the area has become infested with them.  I climbed down and went to another piece of property.  Saw 6 deer - all doe.

December 21^st  – Wednesday - Hunted the Madison County land in the afternoon. Harvested buck at 310 yards. Link to story.

December 21^st   – Wednesday - Hunted on the farm in the morning.  Saw zero deer.

December 20^th  – Tuesday - Hunted on the farm in the afternoon. Saw zero deer.

As of December 19^th  - It's been a rough season!  I've seen very few deer on the farm in Morgan County. The deer sighting have been way down everywhere except the land in Madison County.  I see 10-30 deer every hunt there.  This has been the year of bad breaks.  I'll have a spot picked out at the hunting club for the kids and it'll be signed out when we get there - they'll harvest a deer on the spot that afternoon.  This has happened three times this season.  Then the December 17th bad luck.  I'm just thankful no one has been injured this year and the kids are having fun even though we're not seeing deer.  It's always darkest just before the dawn - the sun should be up soon :)

I miss hunting at Tishabee and with Ronnie at Indian Mound!

I know it can all turn around in a heart beat but it's not looking good.

December 18^th  – Sunday – Hunted the farm in the afternoon.  Saw 5 - all doe.

December 17^th  – Saturday – Hunted the farm in the afternoon.  I planned for Kim and Amber to hunt a small field and be able to see across the creek, along the hedge row, into another field.  We arrived at the small field and the creek bank had to much brush too see across at that point.  We had everything ready to hunt using the Wigwam pop-up tent.  The small field had very little sign in it.  I decided at the last minute to move them to the other side of the creek to hunt the larger field. That morning after hunting, I did a little scouting and found the deer were browsing on the green hedge.  We moved them to the opposite side of the small creek to hunt the larger field and hedge row.  I thought the deer would come out of the swamp behind the hedge row into the field.  I've seen them do that many times.  Around 4:30pm, they heard two bucks fighting in the swamp behind the hedge row.  The bucks ran through the swamp, across the creek and into the small field.  They couldn't see the deer just hear them fighting and grunting in the field behind them.  Bummer!  Had I left them 40 yards away, across the creek, the bucks would be right in front of them.  They never saw the deer, they said it sounded like they were tearing the world apart.  It was very exciting for them, but would've been better to have the deer in sight.  They're going to keep fooling around and get a deer this year.  Amber has harvested 8 deer over the last two seasons.  Austin and I hunted another field and saw zero deer.

December 17^th  – Saturday – Hunted the farm in the morning.  Saw zero deer - had one blowing at something around 8:30am.  The wind was good - not sure what it was blowing at.

December 16^th  – Friday – Hunted Madison County property.  Saw 11 deer - all doe.  They came out in the field around 150 yards away with 45 minutes until dark.  I thought I'd get a closer shot before dark but didn't see any deer closer.  I saw a nice buck the last time I hunted there with a bow and had 10+ deer come by at 20-yards.  None ventured through the patch of woods this afternoon.

December 15^th - Article published in December issue of Wishigan Outdoors Magazine
Muzzleloaders - A Primitive Weapon?

December 14^th  – Wednesday – Rifle hunted at the club in Vina for the afternoon – saw zero deer.

December 13^th  – Tuesday – Scouted on Wheeler Wildlife Refugee in the late afternoon – saw zero deer.

December 11^th  – Sunday – Rifle hunted on the farm in the afternoon – saw zero deer. 

December 9^th  – Friday – Shot doe with bow on Madison County land - link to story.

December 7^th  – Wednesday – Rifle hunted at the club in Vina for the afternoon – harvested a doe -  link to story.

December 5^th  – Monday – Rifle hunted on the farm in the afternoon – saw zero deer.  Just enough time after work to sneak a field.

December 4^th  – Sunday – Rifle hunted on the farm in the afternoon – saw zero deer.  I had a board meeting from 2:00-3:30 - left just enough time for a little stalk hunting in the cold rain.

December 3^rd  - Saturday - Hunted on the farm in the afternoon.  Wind switched late in the afternoon and I had deer blow twice between 4:30 and dark.  Bummer!  I can't get a break on the farm this year.

December 2^nd  - Friday - Scouted on Wheeler Wildlife Refugee in the late afternoon – saw zero deer.

December 1^st  - Thursday - Harvested 7point. - link to story.

November 30^th  – Wednesday – Scouted on Wheeler Wildlife Refugee in the late afternoon – saw zero deer.  I'm trying to spot deer for a place to setup at a later date.

November 29^th  – Tuesday – Scouted on Wheeler Wildlife Refugee in the late afternoon – saw one deer coming out into a field.  It was 66 yards from me (range finder) - saw me and departed the area. Tons of acorns on the ground!

November 27^th  – Sunday – Rifle hunted on the farm in the afternoon – saw zero deer. It's been a rough season!  I've seen very few deer on the farm in Morgan County and the hunting club at Vina has been a bust.  We've hunted at the club 8 times and seen deer only once.  1 for 8 is not good!  Every 4 years, the Morgan County land is planted with Grain Sorghum instead of Soybeans - this is the sorghum year.  The deer sighting have been way down.  I miss hunting at Tishabee and with Ronnie at Indian Mound!

November 26^th – Saturday - Kim and I carried the kids to the hunting club in Vina. Austin and I hunted field 17.  Kim and Amber hunted field 16.  We saw zero deer – we are currently 1 for 8 on deer sighting at the hunting club at Vina – that’s horrible!

November 25^th – Friday – Rifle hunted on the farm in the morning – saw zero deer.  Carried Austin hunting on the farm in the afternoon – saw zero deer – saw 3 coyotes.  The coyotes look like a problem – I need to open season on them.

November 22^nd – Wednesday – Rifle hunted on the farm in the morning and afternoon – saw zero deer.

November 20^th – Sunday - Kim and I carried the kids to the hunting club in Vina. Austin and I hunted field 14.  Kim and Amber hunted field 11.  We saw zero deer – bummer!

November 19^th – Saturday – Opening Day for Rifle - Rifle hunted on the farm – saw a group of small bucks in the morning around 6:30am – 5 or 6 bucks – small racks – had a doe and yearling come right under the stand at 7:30am.  Hunted the afternoon and saw one doe.

November 18^th – Friday – Muzzleloader hunted on the farm in the afternoon – saw no deer – saw 3 coyotes.

November 16^th – Wednesday - Muzzleloader hunted at some land in Madison County I have a permit to hunt.  It always has tons of deer – saw a dozen or so deer but all doe – no racks.  I caught a glimpse of one deer that appear to have some head gear.  It was a great afternoon - It’s a fun place to hunt.  The lady that owns the land lives there – I can’t wear out my welcome and only hunt there every couple of weeks.

November 12^th – Saturday - Youth Hunt – Kim and I carried the kids to the hunting club in Vina.  I scouted on Tuesday and Wednesday looking for a good place to carry the kids.  Austin and I hunted field 4.  Kim and Amber hunted field 12.  Austin and I saw zero deer – Kim and Amber saw three.  A small buck (3-point) and doe with fawn.  They didn’t shoot one.  The club rule is 3-points on one side.

November 9^th – Wednesday – Scouted in the morning and bow hunted in the afternoon at the hunting club in Vina.  Hunted area 2 – saw zero deer.

November 8^th – Tuesday – Scouted in the morning and bow hunted in the afternoon at the hunting club in Vina.  Hunted area 14 – saw zero deer.

November 6^th – Sunday – Bow hunted on the farm in the afternoon – saw zero deer.

November 5^th – Saturday – Bow hunted on the farm in the afternoon – saw zero deer.

October 30^th – Sunday – Bow hunted on the farm in the afternoon – saw zero deer.

October 29^th – Saturday – Bow hunted on the farm in the afternoon – saw zero deer.

October 26^th – Wednesday – Scouted on Wheeler Wildlife Refugee in the afternoon – saw zero deer.  The mosquitoes almost carried me away – lost 4 pints of blood.

October 23^rd – Sunday – Bow hunted on the farm in the afternoon – saw zero deer.

October 22^nd – Saturday – Bow hunted on the farm in the afternoon – saw zero deer.

October 16^th – Sunday – Bow hunted on the farm in the afternoon – saw zero deer.

October 15^th – Saturday – Opening Day – Bow hunted in the afternoon on the farm in Morgan County.  I had just sat down and heard something to the left – it was a spike.  He was walking at an angle to put him directly in front of my treestand at 15-20 yards.  When he got 20 yards to my left – he turned 90 degrees and started walking broadside.  When I first saw him, he was walking almost directly at me – I couldn’t move to stand up.  When he turned to my left, I had one small hole to shoot through.  I stood up and drew at the same time.  As he walked in the hole, I shot and the arrow went right over his back.  It barely cut him with one blade.  It was a bad deal.  I just made a bad shot.

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