Bucks of the Bluegrass.com
Tony Dempsey's Personal Log
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9-6-09 Well I got my first kill of the season this evening at 7:30. I have a stand placed on the outside corner of a tree line that serves as a staging area to my food plots. I had seen a couple of good bucks enter the field there last week, so I hung a stand. I went back and watched the fields from a distance 3 times last week and never saw the bucks again. So, after having a nice adult doe come in to 20 yards, I just had to let the air out of her. I hit her perfectly behind the shoulder and the 100 grain Rage exited the off shoulder. She ran out of the field and into the woods for a total of about 80 yards before crashing. You think it may be too early to be killing does, but after sitting around all summer without killing anything since turkey season, I've been getting the shakes. I know this is Bucks of the Bluegrass, but what the hay, it's early. I'm not real pumped about buck hunting right now anyway. I really like it when the end of October rolls around and the big ones start moving.
9/20 Wind E, 5mph, 80 deg. Got settled into the field edge stand around 6:00pm. Didn't have any activity until about 7:50pm when two 8 pointers came out to my left at 40 yards. The largest of the two was one that I had seen during pre-season, but needed a better look at him to judge him. He was about 16 in. wide with G2's around 8 in. He is only 2 1/2 years old and needs more age on him. The other buck was the one that I call Tall 2's, and he came in to 15 yards of me for a broadside view. I have a trailcam pic of him posted here. Sat til dark without any other deer coming out.
9/23 Wind NW, 0-1mph, 75 deg & damp; humid. Got in the stand about 5:45. While getting everything arranged in the stand I caught movement on my left side. Here came a big dog coyote on the field edge, making his way to come right in front of me. I was trying to get my release on, grabbed my bow and got drawn but couldn't get the yote to stop in my shooting lane. That's the only action I had all night. I think these deer have quit using the fields and are hitting all of the acorns that are falling.
9/27 Temp 68, Wind SW 10mph Set a new stand on the edge of my horse pasture where a big red oak stands. Saw a good buck feeding there Fri. evening so I hung a stand after church on Sunday. Got in there around 5:30pm and had deer coming out before I could get my bow pulled up. Got it pulled up without spooking anything and had a couple of slickheads under my stand in a few minutes. Those deer fed off and around 7:00pm I saw a buck out at 200 yards. He was making a bee line for the big oak. I soon realized that this was not the buck I had seen two nights before. This was a nice 2 1/2 year old eight point that would score around 115. He got to within 30 yards before the wind turned a 180 and he bounded off the way he came. This is the third immature buck that I have passed on this season. I hope it's only a matter of time before the boss slips up and presents me with a shot. The deer are really hammering the acorns now, so if you are going out spend your efforts in the oak groves.
11/11/09 S wind 64 deg Bowhunted today back on the old home place. Hunted the nosebleed stand for the first time. Saw my first deer around 7:00am when a nice buck ran down the old logging road behind me. Five minutes later a coyote came through tracking the deer. Saw a doe and young one around 9:00 and had a spike come through around 9:30. Got out of there about 10:30.
11/12/09 S wind 64 deg Hunted the same stand as yesterday and didn’t see any deer movement until 9:00 when I rattled in a nice 2 ½ yr old 10 pointer. He passed by at 10 yards for what would have been the perfect shot. Not much action today, so I got down around 10:30.
11/13/09 S wind 68 deg Was making my way into the same stand as the previous 2 days when I heard what sounded like deer running toward me. It was just breaking light and I was only 50 yards from the stand. I could make out that it was a buck chasing a young doe. This was my first observation of any rutting activity this week. The deer moved off and I got myself into the stand undetected. Once I got settled in I spotted the young doe about 100 yards out with the ten pointer that I rattled in the previous day right behind her. When he moved toward her again, it was off to the races. Never saw them the rest of the morning. About 30 minutes had passed when I decided to rattle. I work the horns as aggressive as I could for about a minute. After watching for about 2 minutes I see a buck coming along the top of the hill at a brisk walk. I grunt to the deer when he is out at 90 yards. He doesn’t respond. I have to get his attention, so I throw a snort wheeze at him. He makes a 90 degree turn and heads straight for me. I can tell that this buck is a shooter. He gets to 30 yards and senses something is wrong. He is looking straight at me but can’t figure it out with the sun coming up behind me. It is now 8:00am and I’m not even breathing at this point. He finally gets the nerve to make his way to the scrape that is 10 yards from me. He walks down hill and starts coming around a tree with his head down when I decide it’s time to draw. As I draw he decides to stop and look straight up at me, 30 ft up that tree. I am just getting the pin settled on him when he decides it’s time to get out of there. He was a good 10 point that I would guess at 140”. No more sightings the rest of the morning.
11/14/09 Opening day of gun season and I go back to the same hillside that I’ve hunted the previous 3 days, but this time I’m hunting a stand that is 200 yards away, on the opposite side of a bedding area. Five minutes in the stand and I’m seeing deer. I hit the horns together and guess who walks in? The ten pointer that I could have already killed twice. I have does and young ones come by, and at 11:00 I have three 1 ½ yr old bucks come through chasing a lone doe. I’m out of the stand at 12:00.
Later the same afternoon I go to the farm that is behind my house to see if I can get on a better quality buck than what I’ve been seeing. I slip in to position to watch a hollow that is a corridor to a feeding area. After a couple of minutes I spot a nice young 9 point that I have several pictures of. He moves off after he spots a doe to check out. I’m on my way out of this wooded ridge when I hear a deer blowing at me over the opposite side of the hill. I move to where I can get a look over this steep hill. When I break over the top, I see a deer standing down in the thick brush. As I get my crosshairs on the deer, I realize that this is a good buck. That’s when he starts moving downhill. It’s hard to tell how good he is, but it’s probably the best I’ve seen yet. Never had a good opportunity for a shot.
11/15/09 Went back to the stand that I hunted the previous morning. Started seeing deer just after getting my gun pulled up. The first buck I see is the ten point that I’ve seen 4 times already. If he keeps this up, he’s mine next year. I hear deer running in the thick cedars on the hill behind me but can never get a glimpse. I set in the stand until about 10:30 when I decide to get down and check out the back side of this hill. Within five minutes of getting sat down, I see a young buck chase a doe down the hill. A few minutes later I hear deer coming back towards me and I assume it’s the same deer. I was wrong, and this is a real nice eight point that would go about 125”. Hunted behind the house again this afternoon but saw only one deer, a 4 pointer that was in my whitetail clover plot.
11/17/09 I got away from work early enough to get on the farm behind the house. Set up where I could see the hillside that I saw the big buck on Sunday evening. Sat until 5:30 with only one doe coming by me. I was in a hurry because I had to be at my daughter’s basketball game by 6:30. while walking out I spotted what looked to be a real good buck standing in the field, about 150 yards away. I eased up to a fence post to have a good rest to shoot from. The deer had spotted me and was getting a little antsy, so I had to make a decision of was he big enough or not. I decided to pull the trigger on him, and when I did it was hard to tell if I had made a good hit. As the deer ran off I heard him hit a barb wire fence that is only 4 ft tall. I was thinking, he shouldn’t have run into the fence unless he was hurt. I go over to the fence and a little beyond with no sign of the buck. I have to get to the game, so I hop on the ranger and get out of there. After the game, a buddy of mine comes to help with recovery of the deer. We go back to where the deer hit the fence and find hair stuck in the barbs. While Kelley is looking for any sign of blood, I make my way out into the weed field in the direction of the deer’s travel. After slowly looking for 5 minutes, I come upon the deer that seemed to fall dead shortly after crossing the fence. He only traveled about 100 yards in all. After finding the buck I have to admit that I am a little disappointed in myself by not making a better judgment on the size and age of the deer, but although the deer had some ground shrinkage, I am glad that I made a good killing shot on the deer and that we made a quick recovery. I’m constantly working to get bigger, more mature deer on our property and harvesting a deer of this caliber, at this age is just hard for me to take. I know that there are 160” class deer in these woods, and now I’ll have to wait until next year to have another chance at harvesting one.
9/20 Wind E, 5mph, 80 deg. Got settled into the field edge stand around 6:00pm. Didn't have any activity until about 7:50pm when two 8 pointers came out to my left at 40 yards. The largest of the two was one that I had seen during pre-season, but needed a better look at him to judge him. He was about 16 in. wide with G2's around 8 in. He is only 2 1/2 years old and needs more age on him. The other buck was the one that I call Tall 2's, and he came in to 15 yards of me for a broadside view. I have a trailcam pic of him posted here. Sat til dark without any other deer coming out.
9/23 Wind NW, 0-1mph, 75 deg & damp; humid. Got in the stand about 5:45. While getting everything arranged in the stand I caught movement on my left side. Here came a big dog coyote on the field edge, making his way to come right in front of me. I was trying to get my release on, grabbed my bow and got drawn but couldn't get the yote to stop in my shooting lane. That's the only action I had all night. I think these deer have quit using the fields and are hitting all of the acorns that are falling.
9/27 Temp 68, Wind SW 10mph Set a new stand on the edge of my horse pasture where a big red oak stands. Saw a good buck feeding there Fri. evening so I hung a stand after church on Sunday. Got in there around 5:30pm and had deer coming out before I could get my bow pulled up. Got it pulled up without spooking anything and had a couple of slickheads under my stand in a few minutes. Those deer fed off and around 7:00pm I saw a buck out at 200 yards. He was making a bee line for the big oak. I soon realized that this was not the buck I had seen two nights before. This was a nice 2 1/2 year old eight point that would score around 115. He got to within 30 yards before the wind turned a 180 and he bounded off the way he came. This is the third immature buck that I have passed on this season. I hope it's only a matter of time before the boss slips up and presents me with a shot. The deer are really hammering the acorns now, so if you are going out spend your efforts in the oak groves.
11/11/09 S wind 64 deg Bowhunted today back on the old home place. Hunted the nosebleed stand for the first time. Saw my first deer around 7:00am when a nice buck ran down the old logging road behind me. Five minutes later a coyote came through tracking the deer. Saw a doe and young one around 9:00 and had a spike come through around 9:30. Got out of there about 10:30.
11/12/09 S wind 64 deg Hunted the same stand as yesterday and didn’t see any deer movement until 9:00 when I rattled in a nice 2 ½ yr old 10 pointer. He passed by at 10 yards for what would have been the perfect shot. Not much action today, so I got down around 10:30.
11/13/09 S wind 68 deg Was making my way into the same stand as the previous 2 days when I heard what sounded like deer running toward me. It was just breaking light and I was only 50 yards from the stand. I could make out that it was a buck chasing a young doe. This was my first observation of any rutting activity this week. The deer moved off and I got myself into the stand undetected. Once I got settled in I spotted the young doe about 100 yards out with the ten pointer that I rattled in the previous day right behind her. When he moved toward her again, it was off to the races. Never saw them the rest of the morning. About 30 minutes had passed when I decided to rattle. I work the horns as aggressive as I could for about a minute. After watching for about 2 minutes I see a buck coming along the top of the hill at a brisk walk. I grunt to the deer when he is out at 90 yards. He doesn’t respond. I have to get his attention, so I throw a snort wheeze at him. He makes a 90 degree turn and heads straight for me. I can tell that this buck is a shooter. He gets to 30 yards and senses something is wrong. He is looking straight at me but can’t figure it out with the sun coming up behind me. It is now 8:00am and I’m not even breathing at this point. He finally gets the nerve to make his way to the scrape that is 10 yards from me. He walks down hill and starts coming around a tree with his head down when I decide it’s time to draw. As I draw he decides to stop and look straight up at me, 30 ft up that tree. I am just getting the pin settled on him when he decides it’s time to get out of there. He was a good 10 point that I would guess at 140”. No more sightings the rest of the morning.
11/14/09 Opening day of gun season and I go back to the same hillside that I’ve hunted the previous 3 days, but this time I’m hunting a stand that is 200 yards away, on the opposite side of a bedding area. Five minutes in the stand and I’m seeing deer. I hit the horns together and guess who walks in? The ten pointer that I could have already killed twice. I have does and young ones come by, and at 11:00 I have three 1 ½ yr old bucks come through chasing a lone doe. I’m out of the stand at 12:00.
Later the same afternoon I go to the farm that is behind my house to see if I can get on a better quality buck than what I’ve been seeing. I slip in to position to watch a hollow that is a corridor to a feeding area. After a couple of minutes I spot a nice young 9 point that I have several pictures of. He moves off after he spots a doe to check out. I’m on my way out of this wooded ridge when I hear a deer blowing at me over the opposite side of the hill. I move to where I can get a look over this steep hill. When I break over the top, I see a deer standing down in the thick brush. As I get my crosshairs on the deer, I realize that this is a good buck. That’s when he starts moving downhill. It’s hard to tell how good he is, but it’s probably the best I’ve seen yet. Never had a good opportunity for a shot.
11/15/09 Went back to the stand that I hunted the previous morning. Started seeing deer just after getting my gun pulled up. The first buck I see is the ten point that I’ve seen 4 times already. If he keeps this up, he’s mine next year. I hear deer running in the thick cedars on the hill behind me but can never get a glimpse. I set in the stand until about 10:30 when I decide to get down and check out the back side of this hill. Within five minutes of getting sat down, I see a young buck chase a doe down the hill. A few minutes later I hear deer coming back towards me and I assume it’s the same deer. I was wrong, and this is a real nice eight point that would go about 125”. Hunted behind the house again this afternoon but saw only one deer, a 4 pointer that was in my whitetail clover plot.
11/17/09 I got away from work early enough to get on the farm behind the house. Set up where I could see the hillside that I saw the big buck on Sunday evening. Sat until 5:30 with only one doe coming by me. I was in a hurry because I had to be at my daughter’s basketball game by 6:30. while walking out I spotted what looked to be a real good buck standing in the field, about 150 yards away. I eased up to a fence post to have a good rest to shoot from. The deer had spotted me and was getting a little antsy, so I had to make a decision of was he big enough or not. I decided to pull the trigger on him, and when I did it was hard to tell if I had made a good hit. As the deer ran off I heard him hit a barb wire fence that is only 4 ft tall. I was thinking, he shouldn’t have run into the fence unless he was hurt. I go over to the fence and a little beyond with no sign of the buck. I have to get to the game, so I hop on the ranger and get out of there. After the game, a buddy of mine comes to help with recovery of the deer. We go back to where the deer hit the fence and find hair stuck in the barbs. While Kelley is looking for any sign of blood, I make my way out into the weed field in the direction of the deer’s travel. After slowly looking for 5 minutes, I come upon the deer that seemed to fall dead shortly after crossing the fence. He only traveled about 100 yards in all. After finding the buck I have to admit that I am a little disappointed in myself by not making a better judgment on the size and age of the deer, but although the deer had some ground shrinkage, I am glad that I made a good killing shot on the deer and that we made a quick recovery. I’m constantly working to get bigger, more mature deer on our property and harvesting a deer of this caliber, at this age is just hard for me to take. I know that there are 160” class deer in these woods, and now I’ll have to wait until next year to have another chance at harvesting one.