Does of Iowa Part 3

I still have two more tags to fill. 

The weather turned again.  Eight inches of snow fell.  Then the temperature plunged to right above zero at night not breaking fifteen degrees during the daytime.  There was a light wind when I went back to Oakland to finish the harvest.  The tags expire the end of January.  That should give me enough time to fill them out as long as the weather will cooperate. 

Driving out across the pasture and feed lot was slow going even in four wheel drive.  The snow had settled down and was frozen. It took some push to make my way to the area where I wanted to park.  The wind was calm.  The temperature was 5 degrees.  My plan was to go back to the same spot since the forcasted wind would be out of the west.  I should not get winded as they came out of the fields.  It was pitch black, and there was no moon.  I could not see if there were any tracks near the area I wanted to hide.  The snow had blown into the lane and was knee deep in areas.  It was difficult getting to my spot.

Crunching down and getting settled, I noticed I had developed a little sweat.  Not good with these temps, but it should all be over with quickly.  The wind picked up to more than a light breeze.  I had forgotten to bring an apple along to rub over my clothing. This supposedly works for some people. The wind moved straight out of the north.  This was not good and was not in the forecast. 

As it got light, the deer came out of the fields, crossed on my left side about 30 yards away, and moved about 75 yards to my southwest.  They stood and looked at me.  I was had.  They milled around, and it was evident, I had been winded.  I started to swing the gun slowly to my left hoping I could get a shot off through the timber, but it was not going to happen.  With the movement, they took off to the south.  There must have been 25 to 30 deer in the group. 

I decided to walk down to the area they had congregated.  With the daylight, I could see they had not come up through the area where I was hiding.  The snow had drifted into areas where it was knee deep.  It appeared they had gone into the timber by going up the next lane to the west where the snow was not as deep.  If I could have predicted the wind direction, I would have been at the far south end of the timber.  With that strategy, I would not have been winded and could have gotten a shot.

By this time, I was really sweaty, and was starting to cool down.  It was time go get back to the truck.  I was on my way home by 10 AM.  It is called hunting, not shooting.

If you have a good story and or pictures of a successful hunt, send them to me and we will publish them.

Good fishing, good hunting, good luck.

Hank

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The Does of Iowa Part 2

Several days ago I had walked the entire bottom land of the farm I intended to hunt.  I was looking for hiding places that would give me the advantage depending on the wind.  I have been winded by deer many times when not only deer hunting, but turkey hunting up at Fort Calhoun.  After spending a half a day scouting, I was ready depending on the weather.

Just as a side note.  I have friends that harvest a fair number of deer every year, and they rub their clothes with a halved apples.  I am going to try this.
Normally I would like it balmy, but this time I wanted it to stay cold and frozen.  I can dress for that.  I would be driving across part of a feed lot to get close to the locations I planned to hunt.  If anyone knows about feed lots in Iowa when it thaws, it is not a good thing. That night a warm front moved in, and it rained.  This is not good.  I decided to wait for colder weather.  Two days later, the snow was almost all gone, and colder night time temperatures moved into southwest Iowa.  This was what I wanted.  The ground would be frozen in the morning, but by noon, I had to be off the farm as the temps warmed up and the sun came out.

The night before the hunt the temp dropped into the teens, and the next morning a temperature inversion had moved in with light fog.  I was at the farm by 6:45 AM, and sitting down at my spot by 7:00 AM.  It was dark, cold and humid.  Visibility was non-existent, and I had to use a flashlight to find my way into the edge of the woods where I wanted to hide.  I did not like that. You can see better when snow is on the ground.  I sat down and got myself situated.  By 7:30 it was starting to show signs of light.

At 7:45 off to my left came six small does.  There was no wind, and the air was dead still. They were coming into the woods from the corn fields to my left and above me.  I had seen some bigger deer that this, but when you hunt for meat, you take what you can get.  They moved slowly heading up the lane right in front of me. They were not over 20 yards away. Stopping to stare, they sensed something was not quite right in the woods.  They would take a few steps then stand and stare.  I had a friend tell me to never look back into their eyes.  Why not?  I did, and nothing happened.  Then four more anterless deer came slowly from the south.  These were bigger, and I picked out one nice size doe to focus on.  The small deer were now in my way, and I did not want to shoot one of them, but they kept standing there looking at me.  I kept saying to myself, "Move it or you will be at the processors in 60 minutes." 

The bigger deer seemed to push the smaller ones forward, and my opportunity presented itself.  One nice big doe, not more that 20 yards away, paused to stare at me.  Meat was in the freezer, and it was not even 8 AM. A quick job of field dressing, driving my truck down to pick up my harvest, and I was gone from the farm by 9 AM. 

This was a great morning.  I still have two more tags to fill and I have two more people that will take deer.

If you have a great story along with a picture(s) send it to me.
Good hunting, good fishing, and good luck.  Hank.


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The Does of Iowa

Turkey season ended for me and it was time to switch to Deer.  I usually hunt just east of the levee along the Missouri River and south of the Veterans Memorial Highway, but the landowner still had bow hunters throughout his property. I was welcome, but I was shooting a muzzle loader.  Also, the property is inside the city limits of Council Bluffs and with all the building in the area, it was time to move.  Sooner or later, someone will complain.

 I moved to spot # 2.  North of Oakland, Iowa the Nisnabotna River meanders through the western Iowa countryside.  Crop land on each side and timber along the river bank make this stretch of ground excellent deer habitat.  The landowner has the same problem other farmers have where woods, water, and grain are in abundance.  The habitat is ideal for the deer and other wildlife.  That is good for people like me, but not the farmer.  The farm I am going to hunt looses about twenty acres of corn per year.  I am very welcome.

The focus was on does.  He told me he did not see a lot of bucks.  The farm holds a lot of  does.  This is the same situation that I found on the farm down by the river.  This is a good deal for me, as I am interested in meat, and I do not care about a big rack on the wall or in the garage.

I went out in the middle of the afternoon to look things over and locate the places I should set up and be concealed.  I met with the landowner and he gave some tips on where he has seen the traffic.  This is what I found.



Looking South towards the end of the timber.

 The farm land is from the highway on the east to the river on the west.  About 200 yards from the river the land drops off abruptly (about 10 to 15 feet) to a level area full of timber and brush.  This looked like it was old river bottom ground.  The timber ran in strips of 20 to 75 yards wide and between the strips of timber were stretches of low grassy area that parrelled the river the length of the farm.  It looked like a series of lanes.  The landowner told me to try and hunt the middle between the lanes.  He also said to hunt the south end of the lanes when the wind is northerly and the north end when the wind is southerly.  I scouted up to the north end of the farm and in this area the lanes disappeared and it was just timber and brush.  There were tracks everywhere.  The land is full of walnut trees and the bucks like to rub their antlers on the walnut trees.  I saw evidence of large bucks based on the height of the rubs.  In sections the snow was packed down.  This place has the appearance of a fresh meat market.  You just have to harvest the meat. At the south end the tracks in the snow ran along the steep bank just inside the first lane.  This was definitely a run leading out to the corn fields and back again. 

Looking North along the first lane.  The bank on the right rises about 15 to 20 feet.

I found a place at the start of the first lane, and planned to hunt close to the bank when shooting time opened.  I was going to hunt here regardless of the wind.  The theory was the deer would be coming in from the fields and entering the woods at the south end.  If the wind is south, all the better.  If it is north, I just need to get back deeper against the bank. I planned to spray some of Bass Pro's finest spray that made me smell like a pile of dirt. 

Read the column next week to see how the theory worked out. 

If you have an interesting story e-mail it to me along with pictures and we will publish it.

Good hunting, good fishing and good luck.  Hank

Turkey Time Day 3

Ouch!  The temperature was down to 8 degrees with a slight breeze from the south.  That made it all the colder, but I was off again to Fort Calhoun to harvest my second turkey for the fall tag. 

Three days ago they came out of the woods almost on time, so I was expecting the same type of experience. With all the clothing, I walked like the Sta Puff Marshmallow Man from an old movie.  Wow!  Was it cold and as I descended to the bottom of the hill it was even colder.  Cold air settles and it had really settled this time. 

Daylight came and I could hear a few hens starting to come off the roost.  The noise was picking up tempo, but nothing like it was several days ago.  Still I could hear the birds behind and in front of me.  As the sun came up over the tree line, several really big birds came out of the woods and slowly made their way up the hill to the corn fields.  These were really big birds, but as before, they were not within gun range.  More came out of the timber, but not in the general location they had shown themselves before.  Also, there was not nearly the yelping that they generally do this time of the morning.  I was concerned that maybe part of the flock had moved off to a different location.

There was quite a bit of noise behind me, and it was getting closer.  I was facing downhill with my back facing uphill.  This was the best position originally, but now I was not so sure.  I could faintly hear the familar sound turkeys make all day.  They made a low clucking and purring sound as they slowly moved about feeding.  I turned to the right and there were two not more than four feet away.  Two nice size hens and they  quietly walked down the hill.  I froze, started moving my hands to the gun, but they were really moving  and they flew right into the woods.  To make matters worse, two more jumped right after that and flew up the hill.  I sat without even firing a shot or even having my gun shouldered.  I continued to wait another hour, but with the temperature and wind, a person can only take so much cold and humidity.  It was almost 11 AM, so I headed out for a lunch break with the landowner.

After heading back to my spot, I crested the top of a hill.  There below me were several hundred turkey.  They had all come out of the woods after I left.  Where they came from I don't know, but there were a lot of birds.  I continued to move down to my spot, but this time I moved out along the fence line and sat in front of a fence post.  The sun would be shining on me, and that would help.  I could also turn to either side.  I was after birds that would be coming back to roost after feeding in the fields.

The fence post was on the left sticking out  where I sat down.  I was looking for birds to come from either side back into the woods to roost. 

This was my last day, and it was now or never.  I needed one more bird to add to the freezer.  Shooting time ends 30 min after sunset, so I was running out of time.  The sun dipped behind the hills, but it was still light enough to be legal.  Here they came.  They walked slowly down the fence line to my right.  There were five small birds.   I am right handed, so to get a shot, I would have to roll to my right, get the gun into my right shoulder, keep some sort of balance, and fire.  This was not easy.  The birds took care of the problem for me.  They walked off the levee and moved toward my front, going up the hill toward the woods.  This was perfect.  I very, very slowly started moving the gun to my shoulder, picked out the biggest of the group, and added meat to the table.  

By the time I got back to the truck it was dark.  A successful fall turkey hunt had been fulfilled.  Now I moved onto deer.

Good hunting, good fishing, and good luck. Hank
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Turkey Time Day 2

The weather turned bitter cold with high humidity and northerly winds.  I had to bundle up for this venture.  I had enough clothes on that I walked like the Pillsbury Dough Boy, but it beat freezing.

I arrived at 7 AM, just a little early, and made my way to the first spot I was going to hunt.  This was along the fence line bordering the no hunting area.  If you look at the previous posting, you can see the position  where I was sitting.  I sat next to a huge cottonwood tree with a wooden ladder that went up to a tree stand.  I stayed on the ground.  When it started to get light, the range finder showed I had a 30  to 40 yard shot when the birds came upon the levee.

It did not take long.  Around  8 AM the hens began to yelp as they came off the roost.  Soon the noise behind me, to my left, and straight south was really loud with all the yelping, clucking and carrying on.  By 8:30 a few more came off the roost and went west into the pasture behind me.  I could hear them, but not see them without turning around.  There was no way I could get a shot, and this was not the location I was planning.  Now the birds had to go with my plan and not theirs.

To the south hens flew out of the trees and started making their way up the hills west to the corn fields.  They were way out of range.  By 9 AM it was really getting cold, and I felt the north wind against my back as it blew down to the bottom of the hill where I was sitting.  I should have brought my tent blind.  By 9:30 I started wiggling my toes and stuck my hands into my pockets and moved my fingers.  I had been here over two hours and  reminded myself that I was having fun.  I should have brought my tent blind.

At 10 AM five really big birds came out of the woods to the south and moved up the hill.  They were way out of range, and I was getting concerned that I was in the wrong place. 

Then it happened.  Up out of the ditch to my left came several small hens slithering under the barbed wire fence and onto the ground in front of me.  They were not quite in range so I waited.  Another fifteen minutes went by before some more birds arrived.  This time bigger birds, but still small.  They were all on the edge of gun range and most started moving up the hill towards the corn fields.  I waited patiently.

Within fifteen yards, three small turkeys came out of the woods.  I was not going to wait any longer.  I could have probably taken two out of the three and had my limit or wait for more and bigger birds.  I eased the gun up very very slowly to reduce any signs of  movement.  This was a good thing because I could take my time lining up.  I pulled the gun into my shoulder.  They stopped, stood still, and turned back looking at the woods.  They were going to bolt for cover as I think they had picked up my movement.  I should have brought my tent bllind. 

Just as I was ready to shoot, out of the woods stepped a really nice size hen.  She was five yards beyond the three small turkeys.  She was toast. There was no hesitation.  A slight upward adjustment was made and meat was on the table. 



Not the biggest bird I have ever shot, but she will eat well.

I gathered her up and put her behind me.  All the noise stopped.  I decided to wait for another hour to see if some more came out of the woods in front of me.  After I shot, It got extremely still.  I thought that after 20 to 30 minutes the woods would settle down and the birds and forest animals would start making some noise.  Not this time.  I left at 11:30.  It was a really fun morning and now because I still have one more bird to harvest, I will be back tomorrow.  The temperature should be down in single digits then.

Good hunting, good fishing, and good luck    Hank.