Tim Wirt Hunting Journal 2011

[Tim Wirt]

I'm not sure if anyone else is planning on doing the journal thing this year but I thought I'd give it another shot.

September 15th (Opening Day):

I decided I'd hunt Mike's stand, on his place, since we had just put my stand up the night before. Here's a shot of his stand:
http://i1201.photobucket.com/albums/bb343/Tradtothebone/DSCN1252.jpg
I got to the stand plenty early, around 5:30, and got my camera set-up and settled in to wait for the sun to come up. The weather was absolutely perfect with the temperature at the 50 degree mark and a crystal clear sky. The slight breeze was blowing right in my face and my confidence was high.
At a little after 7:00 a small doe stepped into the field I was watching and stared right at me. I reached down and turned on the video camera and watched to see what she would do. After a few minutes she calmed down a little and started to move my way. I adjusted the camera for the shot I was about to get and must have spooked her by moving because she turned a bounded back into the woods. AARGH!!!
Here's the video I shot that morning:
http://i1201.photobucket.com/albums/bb343/Tradtothebone/Video%20Album/th_MOV002.jpg (http://s1201.photobucket.com/albums/bb343/Tradtothebone/Video%20Album/?action=view&current=MOV002.mp4)
I left the stand at around 9:00 kicking myself for blowing an opportunity so early in the season.
That afternoon I decided to go sit in my stand until dark. Here's a picture of my stand:
http://i1201.photobucket.com/albums/bb343/Tradtothebone/DSCN1257.jpg
The weather was still pretty cool and clear but I didn't see anything but squirrels and doves. I did take a few pics while on stand, I think this one was pretty cool:
http://i1201.photobucket.com/albums/bb343/Tradtothebone/DSCN1263.jpg

[Tim Wirt]

September 16th:

This morning I decided to go sit in a different spot and had to stay on the ground. Earlier this year Mike sold his Hunter Safety System (treestand safety belt) to a friend of his because he planned on just hunting from the ground. Well, like Mike has a tendency to do, he changed his mind and thought he'd give treestand hunting another shot. He bought a heavy duty ladder stand and was about to get another Hunter Safety System when I told him he could have mine because I wanted a lighter version that had just came out. Like usual, things came up that prevented me from getting one until my brother bought a new safety belt for me that I would pick up later today.
I settle into my spot well before first light and awaited the morning. The weather was still nice and cool but cloudy, still nice.
I took this picture of my set-up using my cameras timer:
http://i1201.photobucket.com/albums/bb343/Tradtothebone/DSCN1274-1.jpg
Around 7:30, I got a call from Mike that I couldn't really understand (my cellphone seems to be allergic to decent reception). I tried calling back and my phone beeped telling me I had a new voicemail. When I listened to it I learned that Mike's glasses fell apart and that he needed my help. I jumped on the golf cart John lets me use to get around and headed to Mike's spot. He told me he took a practice draw and bumped his glasses knocking his right lens out. I looked around the base of his stand and found the lens and helped him get down. We went back to the garage and fixed his glasses right up. WHEWW!!!
We headed back out at 3:00, I went to my stand and Mike went to his. The evening was pretty uneventful but I did see about a million squirrels (again) and heard a bunch of coyotes just before dark.
Here's an aerial photo of Mike's place. The X marks my spot and the square is Mike's:
http://i1201.photobucket.com/albums/bb343/Tradtothebone/DSCN1279-1.jpg

[Sanderlin3]

Like.. Keep up with the posts!

[Tim Wirt]

Hey guys, sorry it's been so long since my last post but I wasn't around a computer.

September 22nd:

I got to John Banderman's house at 6:00, we loaded my stuff into his truck and headed for Kirksville. John has some friends, Pat and Vera Patton, who have a 130 acre farm and they said it would be OK for us to come up and hunt for a few days. We got to their house around 10:30 and after visiting with Pat and Vera for a little while and setting up John's camper we went out to do a little scouting and hang some stands.
Here's our home for the next few days:
http://i1201.photobucket.com/albums/bb343/Tradtothebone/DSCN1302.jpg
After looking around the farm for a little bit and seeing a ton of places to set up we came upon a group of oaks raining acorns and John suggested that would be a great spot to hang a ladder stand. We hung the stand, found John an awesome spot in a narrow strip of trees by a creek, and went back to camp to rest a bit and get ready to hunt the evening (I'm not going to be saying much about John's hunt in case he wants to write one of these himself).
Here's a shot of the ladder stand we set:
http://i1201.photobucket.com/albums/bb343/Tradtothebone/DSCN1300.jpg
I got to my stand at 4:20 and when I went set-up my video camera I realized I left my camera arm at home (son of a BLEEP!) and left my flexible tripod at camp (ARGGGH!!). So after a quiet, dignified moment of self reflection I decided at least I'm in a tree stand in the deer woods with a bow in my hand, so things could be a lot worse.
At 5:15 I saw movement about 50 yards away and got ready. A raccoon came down the trail I was watching, heading my way. I was so focused on the coon I failed to notice the three deer that came up behind me and were vacuuming up acorns like a Dyson (I almost said Hoover but thought "What is this 1940?"). The deer were 35 yards away and almost completely blocked by the big oak they were feeding under and totally unaware of my existence.
After what seemed like an eternity one of the little ones started to slowly feed my way. As the deer approached one of my shooting lanes I raised my longbow and started to put pressure on the string. The deer stepped into an opening and I came to full draw, picked a spot, released, and watched my arrow fly right under the deer's chest. WHAT THE @#$%? How did I miss that deer at 12 YARDS? It's a flipping chip shot for crying out loud.
To add insult to injury, the deer barely even acknowledges the fact I shot at it and just take a few quick steps. The other two and the deer I shot at slowly fed away, never offering me another opportunity.
I got down at 7:30 and went to meet John and head back to camp for some supper and to cry myself to sleep.
I'm actually not feeling very well right now, I think I'm coming down with something and took some Nyquil about an hour ago and it's starting to work. I'll post the rest of the trip tomorrow. TRW

[Tim Wirt]

Hey guys, sorry I had to bale on you last night. That Nyquil's some wicked stuff but I feel a little better. I managed to take a few seconds of video of one of the deer I saw before I missed. Here's it is, there's not much and it's a bit "Blair Witchy" but like I said, no camera support:
http://i1201.photobucket.com/albums/bb343/Tradtothebone/Video%20Album/th_MOV001.jpg (http://s1201.photobucket.com/albums/bb343/Tradtothebone/Video%20Album/?action=view&current=MOV001.mp4)

September 23rd:

I got to the ladder stand at 6:20 and climbed up. I remembered my flexible tripod this morning and wrapped it's legs around the ladder on my left side. The tripod comes with a mounting bracket that you screw into the camera and then insert into the receiver on the tripod. I set the camera into place and make a few adjustments trying to get the camera pointed where I think my shot would be and when I release the camera it falls 12 feet to the ground and smacks a log (obviously this was not a good weekend for me and my camera). As I begin to climb back down to retrieve what I'm sure is a very broken camera I hear something coming towards me through the leaves. I settle back into my stand, grab my bow, and scan the woods for the source of the noise. Just then, two coons come walking by on the trail. This place has more coons than I've ever seen in one place, John and I saw them almost every time we went out.
After watching the coons walk out of sight I turn back around and catch something else moving through the trees about 70 yards away. I raise my binoculars and see the biggest bobcat I've seen in my life slinking through the woods. I'm not kidding, this thing looks like it weighs 60 or 70 pounds, he's huge! What a suck time to have my camera laying at the base of my tree. I was able to watch him just being a bobcat for about 5 minutes when I made a slight move on my stand to get comfortable and old Robert raises his head and looks right at me. I can't describe how little the noise I made was, I could barely hear it at ground zero and Bobby's at least 80 yards away and he instantly goes on high alert. Man, predators are SHARP! Well, that big guy wastes no time and he high-tails it out of the county.
A few minute later I climb down to get what I'm sure is my broken video camera. When I get back into my stand I turn the camera on and check it out. Amazingly, it's all working fine. Go Panasonic! Apparently while I was trying to set my camera I missed the hole (insert your own joke there, I'm not touching that one) because when I could actually see, everything went together fine.
The rest of the morning was pretty uneventful. I did have Vera's 5 horse walk up behind my stand making me think I had every deer within 2 miles walking up on me. They got within 30 yards of my stand but never offered me a shot. Just kidding, actually I missed. Sorry, I just wanted to get a rise out of any horse lovers who might read this. I DID NOT SHOOT AT THE HORSES!!!
I got down around 9:20 and went to get John.

[Tim Wirt]

September 23rd:

I got to the stand at 4:15 and the weather was calm and clear. The woods were crawling with squirrels. Those little dudes were everywhere making me think deer were coming at me from every direction. Squirrels have their deer walk impersonation down pat, they fooled me every time.
With light fading fast, I hear something moving towards me. I know it's just another squirrel but I go ahead get all shaky and nervous anyway, just in case it's actually a deer. Just then, I see a raccoon coming towards me, the another, and another. I'm telling you, this place is overrun with these things. A trapper could make a decent living on just this one farm (I actually have no idea if that's true, I don't know how much can be made trapping). I took advantage of having my camera up in the tree with me and shot some video of the little masked rodents. Here's that video:
http://i1201.photobucket.com/albums/bb343/Tradtothebone/Video%20Album/th_MOV002-2.jpg (http://s1201.photobucket.com/albums/bb343/Tradtothebone/Video%20Album/?action=view&current=MOV002-2.mp4)
I got down at 7:35 and headed back to camp. More later, TRW.

[Tim Wirt]

September 24th:

I arrived at my stand at 6:30 and it was clear and cold. Clouds rolled in at 7:00 or so and the wind started to swirl, instead of the steady breeze in my face the wind seemed to be coming from several directions at once.
At 7:30 I saw two huge does heading my way. Both deer were bigger than any deer I'd seen so far but were acting very spooky. They'd stomp and blow looking away from me and run towards me. Then, they'd lock up and look right at me and stomp and blow again. This went on for almost 20 minutes until they finally ran off for good. I guess they were catching my scent but in the swirling wind couldn't quite figure out where it was coming from.
I got down at 9:15 and headed back to camp with the beginning of a cold coming on. I pretty much lazed around camp taking naps and generally feeling like crap.
I went out that evening at 4:10 or so, but only stayed on stand until 6:30. I felt like death warmed over.
John and I went ahead and pulled our stands and headed back to camp for some supper and sleep. We got up the next morning around 6:00 and packed up camp and headed home. Even though neither one of us got a deer we both had a great time and look forward to heading back in a few weeks or so. Talk to you guys soon, TRW.

[Tim Wirt]

September 30th:

I haven't been able to get out at all this week due to being under the weather so when my cousin called and asked if I'd go and sit with his son, Jeremy, Friday evening, I jumped at the chance. Jeremy is an eleven year old bowhunting fanatic whose parents would prefer that an adult sits with him when he hunts from a tree stand. In the absence of an adult, they let me fill in.
Jamie, my cousin, has six acres in Defiance that we've all; Jamie, Jeremy, and myself, killed several deer off of in the ten years he's lived there. They have a quarter acre food plot that has been getting hammered by deer recently and it has a two-man ladder stand set on one end. Jeremy brought home a good report card and when asked what he'd like to do to celebrate he said "I want to go bowhunting," like I said the kid's a fanatic. His old man wasn't able to get out of a plumbing job he'd already had scheduled and asked if I'd mind going with little man.
Jeremy had a half day of school today and when I got to their house at 2:00 he was all dressed and ready to go. I changed clothes and we headed to the stand. I told Jeremy that if we left now we'd have a long sit until dark, he was fine with that.
We got to the stand at about 2:15 (it's about a 30 yard walk from Jamie's shed to the stand) and settled in. I was working the video camera while Jeremy was on hunting detail. We sat in the stand watching the food plot until well after dark but, unfortunately, only saw rabbits and squirrels. During the five plus hours we sat there Jeremy might have said ten words total and his concentration hardly wavered. At dark, right before we climbed down, I told him "It's too bad we didn't see any deer." He just looked at me and said, "No biggie, at least we got to go hunting." That made me feel real good. When most of his generation only cares about clothes and video games it was refreshing to find a young man who gets the same satisfaction out of hunting that I do. Who knows, maybe this world has a chance, TRW.

[Tim Wirt]

October 3rd:

I went and sat in Mike's ladder stand this evening. I got to the stand and got settled in at 3:30. The weather was calm with clear skies but, unfortunately, warm. The temperature was about 80 degrees, way too warm for hunting in my opinion but what are you going to do?
Around 5:30 Mike's neighbor started cutting his grass around the pond on his property about 50 yards from where I was sitting and didn't stop until almost 7:00. Not very good for deer movement.
I climbed down at 7:20 and pulled the card out of Mike's game camera. I would like to show you pictures from that but I forgot the card at Mike's so...


October 4th:

I went back to Mike's ladder stand because the pictures from his game camera showed a doe coming by the past three mornings around 7:45. The weather was calm and the skies were, once again, clear. This morning the temperatures were in the high 50's so I felt a bit better about seeing a deer.
At 7:30 or so I heard John up at the house fire up the tractor to do some brush hogging on the property. I felt pretty confident that with the tractor running on the other side of the place any deer moving around this morning would, eventually, come by. They didn't. I stayed on stand until almost 10:30 but nothing showed up.
On the way out I walked by the ground blind Mike had set up at the top of the field his stand is in. He set the blind up about a week earlier and brushed it in a little. I couldn't resist, I had to brush it in more.
Here's the blind after Mike brushed it in:
http://i1201.photobucket.com/albums/bb343/Tradtothebone/DSCN1322.jpg
Not bad. Pretty hidden. Here's the blind after I brushed it in:
http://i1201.photobucket.com/albums/bb343/Tradtothebone/DSCN1325.jpg
His way was good; Mine is better. TRW

[Tim Wirt]

Hey guys, I thought you guys might get a kick out of this. Remember my last entry when I went to my brother's stand because a doe (singular) was coming by at 7:30 or so. Well, later that day I pulled the card from my game camera and this is what was on it:
http://i1201.photobucket.com/albums/bb343/Tradtothebone/Trail%20Camera%20Pictures/PICT0043.jpg
The big doe is standing under 20 yards in front of my ladder stand. You ever feel as though every decision you make is the wrong one. Well, I do. TRW

[Tim Wirt]

October 10th:

I left my house, in Florissant, at 3:45am and I got to Mike's at a little after 5. I went into the garage, changed clothes and headed to my ladder stand. On the way down to my stand I was busted by a deer who was blowing and stomping for about 5 minutes. I was set up and waiting for sun up at 5:25 (that's a long time to wait in the dark). I got down at 9:00 and had not seen anything.

Around 1:00 Mike, John, and I left for Kirksville.

[Tim Wirt]

October 11th:

Mike, John, and I arrived at Kirksville to late the night before to hang stands or hunt so early the next morning, in the densest fog I've ever seen, Mike and I headed to our spots and John went to his. Mike wasn't with John and I earlier this year so I offered to show him a spot to set up his climbing stand and on the way in we spooked a flock of turkeys from their roost. Mike went on to climb the same tree John was in earlier this year and I headed to my spot.

I thought it would be best to set my ladder stand up in the light of day so I set up on the ground in the general area. After a few minutes I started hearing turkeys calling to each other all around. I got my slate call out of my pack and tried calling back. After a few calls it became apparent that I had at least 1 turkey to my right and 1 behind me calling so I put my call down and waited to see what would happen.

I started seeing movement off to my right and soon saw a hen walk out of the brush about 25 yards away heading right for me. When she closed the distance to 15 yards I tried to draw my bow and was busted by the turkey right behind me that I'd forgotten all about.

I went and got Mike at 9:00 and together we set my ladder stand up.

We headed back out at 3:30 for our evening hunt and after dropping Mike off I headed to my stand. It was partly cloudy and HOT, about 85 degrees, so my confidence was really low.

After seeing nothing but squirrels, and darn few of them, I caught some movement down the hill from me. I then heard a turkey fly across the creek down there and got ready. Before long, I had at least 6 turkeys about 40 yards away flying up to their evening roost. I waited until full dark and left hoping to get in on them in the morning.

[Tim Wirt]

October 12th:

The rain started at a little after 3 am and was drizzling when we got up at 5. I asked Mike if he'd like to try them turkeys with me and he said cool. We had a bit of a difference of opinion on how to set up this morning. Mike wanted to set the Double Bull blind in the field and I just wanted to try and sneak into the woods with the birds. Begrudgingly, Mike agreed to go with my plan and we snuck into the woods and got within 40 yards of the turkeys without spooking any of them.

When the sun started coming up (actually the clouds just got a little bit lighter) we started hearing turkeys calling to one another on the roost. After about 15 minutes of this the first turkey pitched out of the roost right into the field Mike wanted to set up in and was quickly followed by 4 others. I could tell, even from 5 yards behind him, Mike was regretting listening to me. OOPS.

Luckily, for me, 2 other birds flew down into the woods about 40 yards away. Mike started calling to them and it sounded as if they were heading our way. A hen stepped out about 30 yards in front of Mike and I could see him getting ready to draw. She was steadily closing the distance calling constantly (fall turkeys never shut up). When she got within 20 yards or so she seemed to drift off never offering a good shot. I turned to my left watching the hen walk away and noticed another hen about 5 yards away. She, of course saw me and bolted. Right about then the rain started coming down hard. Mike and I baled at 8:30.

That evening Mike and I headed out at 3:30 and the rain started at 4:00. Mike and I pulled our stands and headed back to camp.

[Tim Wirt]

October 13th:

Mike and I got up early and went to O'Fallon to pick up our twin, 9 year old, nephews to come out and try hunting with us. The boys were really excited about their first opportunity in the deer woods and Mike and I were excited about it as well.

That evening we decided that I would take the boys to Mike's blind, the one I brushed in, and Mike would hunt from his ladder stand. The boys and I got into the blind at 3:30 and by 3:45 the questions started. "How long until the deer show up, Uncle Tim?" "If we see a deer are we going to shoot it or do we have to wait for a big buck?" "If we shoot a big buck can I hang the horns in my room?" and so on. I just had to shake my head and smile. They at least spoke in a whisper but the did not stop talking even when I said deer show up better when it's quiet.

We did see an owl fly up into a tree and scan the field we were watching for a meal. The boys thought seeing the owl was cool but they thought it was "freaky" the way they can turn their heads around.

We left the blind at 6:30 and they seemed to enjoy "hunting" and couldn't wait to go again. I told them I would take them again soon and I hope to take them with me during gun season.

[Tim Wirt]

October 29th:

It's been a while since I've been able to get out, darn immune system. I spent most of the day yesterday hanging stands with my cousin getting ready for hunting together next week. Saturday morning I was back at my brother's and headed down to his blind for a morning hunt. I got to his blind at 6:30 and waited for the sun to come up. The weather was clear, calm, and chilly; perfect hunting weather. I hunted until 9:30 and only saw an owl, also hunting the field I was watching.
I went back to his blind at 3:30 for an evening sit. The weather was, again, clear and cool so my anticipation was high. At around 4:00 Mike's neighbors started shooting guns, I guess target practicing, and 2 and a half hours (and at least 300 rounds) later they stopped at dark. Nothing seen.

[Tim Wirt]

October 30th:

This morning I decided to go to my ladder stand and I got there at 6:30. The weather was cloudy and a bit windy and I thought that this could be a good morning. Around 7:15 I heard a few buck grunts coming from where my brother was sitting (in his ladder stand about 80 yards away). After a few minutes I heard a crunch of dead leaves behind me and saw a little 5 point buck working his way up the fence row I'm set-up on. He was walking by about 5 yards behind me, an easy shot if he was a legal deer. Darn antler restriction. I baled a little early because my cousin and I were going to the Rams game (we won against the Saints-unbelievable).

[Tim Wirt]

November 1st:

I left my house at 3:45 and headed over to my cousin Jamie's house to do a little hunting. I got to his house at 4:30 and after a short planning session we determined that the wind (blowing out of the south) was all wrong for the two-man set we had down the road so we decided to split up. He went down the road with his climbing stand and I went behind his house to the food plot. On the way in I spooked a deer out of the food plot that ran a few yards and stomped a blew at me for what seemed like an hour. After that I went and climbed into the stand and looked at my watch, 5:30. I had a LONG wait until the sun came up. When the sun finally came up I heard a buck grunt a few times down the hill from me but I never saw him. The rest of the morning was pretty uneventful so I climbed down at 10:00.
That afternoon Jamie and I set up a new two-man set in the area he hunted that morning. After getting the stands put up we decided to go ahead and climb in and wait out the evening. By the time we climbed up and got the camera arm set it was 3:00 and the weather was warm. I'd be lying if I said we were both in total hunting mode, actually we tightened up our safety belts and slept for about an hour.
Jamie was awaken by the sound of crunching leaves and I was awaken by Jamie slapping me across the back of the head. We scanned the woods and located the source of the noise, it was a huge fox squirrel. Around 5:30 we had a small doe walking at the bottom of the hill about 60 yards away. She walked out of our sight, never offering a shot. A half hour later a very nice buck came walking from the direction the doe had gone. He was a very nice 10 point that had nice mass and decent tine length and he was walking with a purpose. We grunted at him and hit a few doe bleats but he seemed not to hear any of it and worked his way out of sight without giving either of us a shot. Around 6:15 we heard a loud buck grunt and a very big doe came running from the bottom of the hill right at us. She would run a bit then stop and look back down the hill and then run a little more. Eventually, she was standing broadside at under 15 yards but neither of us wanted to shoot because we just knew a buck was hot on her tail. She stayed near our tree for a good 10 minutes and then drifted of into the thick cover behind us. By now, it's right at 6:30 (pretty dark) and we're getting everything ready to climb down and we hear leaves crunching, heading our way. Just then, a huge bodied deer walks into the clearing grunting the whole way. He comes down the same trail the doe walked on and stops at 10 yards. We could easily see his outline and that he had a rack but not how big or any other details. He continues tracking the doe and melts into the brush. No shots but still an exciting night.

[Tim Wirt]

November 2nd:

Last night, after eating dinner at Jamie's house, him and I headed out to his wife's families property in Montgomery county. The week before we had set up a new two-man set in a brushy creek bottom that cuts between a huge cut bean field and a huge cut corn field. The creek bottom is about 60 yards wide and connects two big blocks of timber on either end. The area we set up in has 3 trails that intersect and is littered with rubs and scrapes so as we climbed into our stands we were feeling very confident. We were in our stands and set up at 5:45 and sat waiting for the sun to pop up. The weather was a bit warm and windy but the wind was blowing our scent out over the bean field. When the sun came up the clouds started to roll in and the wind picked up even more. We stayed in the tree until about 12:30 and had only saw squirrels and the biggest raccoon I'd ever seen. We decided to climb down and go get some lunch. We ate and were back in the stands by 2:00. We stayed until 6:45 and didn't see a single deer. We were very surprised, but that's hunting.

[Tim Wirt]

Hey guys, I know it's been awhile since my last posting. When I'm at my brother's house I don't have internet access. I've been hunting hard and have a ton of things to post all the way through gun season. Unfortunately, I forgot my notebook at Mike's and I have to wait to get it before I can post any details. I'll get it and get this journal updated ASAP. TRW