So let me set the stage……. My name is Wayne. Hunting is pretty much how I spend my fall/winter seasons. Bowhunting is my primary method, though I do occasionally hunt with a gun. Bows are where it’s at with me. I like the challenge and there is nothing like a big deer standing 10 yards away from you.
I mostly hunt with the same group of people. Mark is by brother. We live close to each other and we do a lot of hunting together. Tommy is a good friend of mine. We hunt, fish and just plain hang out a lot. Carmelo is another friend of ours. Mike (or Rambo, PZ or any other name we can come up with) pops in and out of the group. These are the main people I share my time in the woods with.
We have access to some great hunting property in Pound Ridge, Bedford and Yorktown (Westchester County, NY). There has been plenty of action in years past so I am sure this year will be no different. I started keeping a Hunting log this year in a Word document so the details aren’t great so far. I decided to just post the notes I have taken so far. (See below).
I would love some feedback from other hunters in Westchester County and the surrounding areas (CT and Putnam) as to how thier season is going so far. Commenting on deer movement, chasing, breeding and tending activities may help create some sort of pattern. My main goal is to create a colloration between moon phases, photoperiod and our hunting area (Westchester County).
Westchester is known for its trophy bucks. Since this is a bow only county, bucks get to grow big. You wouldn’t think that such a suburban area can hold such great deer but so much of Upper Westchester is private estates and large plots of land that are clear of hunting pressure. I jsut read an article tonight about someone harvesting a 16 year old doe. It was a collared deer and the transmitter was dated 1992. That is what you call staying alive. She had 1 tooth left and the “toes” grew so long that they were overlapping.
OK, enough babble. Below are my notes from the first few days of the season.
Opening Day
Date: 10/18/2008
Location: Pound Ridge, NY
Hours Hunted: Sunrise – Sunset – Break from 11-1pm
Temperature: 50s
Wind: mild
Weather: Sunny
Moon Phase: Mostly Full
Deer Sighted: 0
Morning Hunt – Pound Ridge Town Property
Nice cold front came in the night before. I was psyched! Got into the stand by 6:15am. SEEN NOTHING – NOTHING! Not one deer moving. Will try again in the afternoon
Afternoon – Pound Ridge Town Property
In the stand by 1:30. Out at dark. Seen NOTHING AGAIN! The property was dead. No one seen anything all day. We are going to try again tomorrow.
Sunday October 19th
Location: Pound Ridge, NY
Hours Hunted: Sunrise – 10:30am
Temperature: 50s
Wind: breezy
Weather: Sunny
Moon Phase: Mostly Full
Deer Sighted: 0
Morning Hunt – PR Town Property
Cold stayed around but the wind picked up. I was in the stand by 6:15am. Out at 10:30. Seen nothing AGAIN. Carmelo got frustrated around 9am and decided to walk the property to see if he can kick something up. He didn’t see anything. Going home!
Monday October 20th
Location: Pound Ridge, NY
Hours Hunted: Sunrise – Sunset (break from 10-2pm)
Temperature: 50s
Wind: breezy
Weather: Sunny
Moon Phase: Mostly Full
Deer Sighted: 7 Doe, 2 Unknown (dark) and a coyote
Morning Hunt – Mark’s Pound Ridge Property
Cold stayed around and the wind dropped way down. Good weather for hunting. I was in the stand by 6am. 7:15am First set of YOY doe came from behind me out f the “sanctuary” to feed. Met up with another YOY and trotted off. Few minutes later a doe (1 ½ maybe) and a fawn came up the main trail up the hill. Fawn went with the other YOYs. Doe came to me – as close as 10 yards. Shot offhand side 23 yards. Caught the lungs and the bottom of the heart. She trotted 30 yards to the “sanctuary” opening in the rock wall, stopped and dropped immediately. Tommy “slapped” a YOY with a stray arrow. He may have hit a branch. I heard the deer “bark” and run off. I caught the noise on the camera while filming the tracking of the doe. The YOYs hung out under my stand all morning.
Afternoon Hunt – Mark’s PR Property
Back in the stand at 2:30pm. YOYs were still lingering around all afternoon. Seen a big doe and fawn over by the house going down the hill (to the car area). Walking out at dark I kicked up 2 big deer. May have been bucks. I couldn’t see too well. While waiting for Tommy at the opening in the rock wall a coyote ran right at me. I was 5ft from the opening and it ran on my side of the wall and went through the opening. I had to stomp my feet to get the thing moving again.
Tuesday October 21st
Location: Pound Ridge, NY
Hours Hunted: Sunrise – 10:30am
Temperature: 50s
Wind: calm
Weather: Sunny
Moon Phase: 60% Full
Deer Sighted: 0
Morning Hunt – PR Town Property
Cold weather was consistant for the last few days. Overnight in the low 30s and mid 50s during the day. I was in the stand by 6:15am. Out at 10:45am. Seen NOTHING AGAIN! MY best guess is that the deer are targeting food and the property isn’t very food rich so they are probably hitting it at night. I walked the bottom and found an old rub line on the lower main trail with some new rubs in it (small saplings). Looks like alot of traffic on the bottom tall grass but nothing moving during the day.
10-22-08 – Observations
I freshened up the scrape in my backyard. Usually by now I start to see a lot of deer killed on the side of the road. I correlate this to the chasing phase. This supports my theory that the deer are still in the pre-rut/beginning of the seeking phase. I will check the mock scrape in PR over the weekend to see if I am getting any action. If I don’t see any scrape activity be the weekend I will switch tactics to using Horn Lure and some Ticks #69 instead of Tink’s Trophy Buck lure.