You fellow Missourians know what November 14th is, but for the rest of you that is the beginning of rifle season. Unfortunately, it is also the peak of rut here in north Missouri, meaning we have hunters coming in from all over the place! I really don’t mind the hunters for I’m one of them, it’s just the fact that there are many of us native north Missourians that do a lot of deer managing – passing on the young ones etc etc, only to see them same deer killed a few weeks later. A little frustrating, but part of the gig, I understand.

I saw a couple of good bucks really early Sat. morning, but it was just a bit too early to tell enough about them to take a shot – I couldn’t even get good video. I did get some video of a nice 8pt that a hunter on the neighboring property spooked by me. Saturday evening I hunted in the timber and I saw a lot of deer, but all does and a couple small bucks. Needless to say, I have yet to seriously consider pulling the trigger.

Most of my entertainment came from the neighboring hunter who had trouble sitting still. It was just a little after 8am when he decided to start making his rounds and that’s exactly what he did. Kept seeing him move in and around the patch of timber he was hunting. I even got some video of him just for kicks

I guess that’s yet another reason why I love bowhunting, it’s more about reading deer sign and getting right up close. Luck is definately a factor needed on your side, but much less so than stomping through some timber and blasting a deer 200 yrds away. Nothing wrong with that as long as your confident in your shot, it’s just much less intimate of an experience.

The 12th the 13th I hunted with some cousins and did some videoing of them bowhunting. I rattled in a couple of bucks on one evening hunt, one young 10pt and a young 7pt. I got some great vid of the 7pt, but my cousin made a good decision in letting him walk as he was young with some good potential. Saw the young 10 the next morning not 100 yrds from the night before, got some more video, but it still wasn’t what we were looking for.

So far it’s been a great bow season. I’ve been fortunate enough to harvest a doe, a nice buck, and a turkey, all of which I caught on camera! Now that is where the luck comes in, I still can’t believe I got all of these kills on camera! I’m going go out tonight, but this will probably be my last chance up here in north Mo, at least for the rifle season, I’m going to have to be getting back down to south Mo.

Here are some clips of the video I’ve been able to catch here in the past week, mostly while bowhunting. Enjoy!

I’ve been wanting to write this for some time now, just hadn’t had the chance til now. Ever wondered why deer seemed to like a certain area? Ever wondered what was over on the neighboring property? Ever wonder where the natural funnels are on a newly acquired piece of ground? Well, your wondering is over! The answer to all those questions can be found while sitting in your living room playing with google earth!

I moved to southwest Missouri a few years ago, so I was starting from scratch on finding private hunting ground. You can drive around, but with gas prices and being unfamiliar with the area, that just didn’t seem extremely practical. So I decided to check out my area from a bird’s eye view. I simply got onto google earth and within no time I had picked 6-7 properties that looked like great deer/turkey habitat. I now have permission to hunt 4 of those properties! I’ll do a separate write up someday on how to be successfull in gaining & keeping permission to hunt.

This is not only a great tool for new properties, but it can greatly enhance your knowledge of a property you’ve hunted for years. There are just certain things you don’t see at ground level. I think the most helpful thing google earth does for you on an older property is give you a great look at the neighboring properties. It can greatly enhance your knowledge of the deer movement in your area.

Last but not least, is that google earth is FREE & FUN! It’s so cool to be able to scout while sitting on your couch! Of course, you’ll want to get your boots on the ground and verify what you’re seeing, but it will cut the wasted scouting time in half!

“It’s ok daddy, you’ll get one next time.”  That’s the “consolation” my two year old son has been giving me after returning from the last few hunts empty handed.  Much to the pleasure of my wife I might add!  They’ll all learn someday that bow hunting is not a sport of instant gratification, but when that gratification does come, it’s all the sweeter! 

This afternoon before I left my boy told me good luck and to kill a turkey.  I told him I would, that tonight I would get him a turkey.  God must have smiled, cause these turkeys came in perfect at 25yrds!

I feel so blessed to get another harvest on video.  I should get some kick-back from the gorilla-pod as much as I endorse them, you just can’t beat them for videoing while you’re solo.  These turkeys started yelping about 80yrds away up in the brush, so I just softly yelped back ever so often.  I knew I was in their roosting area, so I figured they’d be heading my way.  Sure enough – the video pretty much tells the rest of the story!

Beautiful evening – fun, fun, hunt in southwest Missouri! 

Thanks for reading!

Finally got to get out on a morning hunt this morning.  What a beautiful morning!  We’ve been getting a lot of rain down here in the Ozarks and I like nothing better than slipping in the woods in the early morning after a good rain.  I didn’t have long to hunt this morning (til 8:15) so I thought I’d go to the spot where there’s always some turkeys – I wasn’t dissappointed!  The only problem was that I ended up climbing a tree with my climber that put me within 25 yards of about 5 turkeys all just about at eye level.  Long story short, they picked me out once it got light and ended up flying out to the pasture away from me. 

A few minutes later a doe & her fawn come through at about 15 yards.  They ended up hanging out right below me and I was able to get a little video of the momma.  Regardless of what PETA says, we hunters do have a heart and I wasn’t about to shoot either one of these two.  You can definitely tell I’m in south missouri as this deer looks like it should be the fawn!  This vid’s not anything too spectacular and I debated about posting it, but if you’re like me, those close encounters in the woods are fun to see even if it is a doe!  Enjoy!

I’m heading to the homestead up in north missouri this weekend, so hopefully I’ll be able to get you some real video and/or pics!!