Satisfied

Satisfaction with the archery kill 

Today is the next to last day of archery season here in PA. The last 10 days has been taxing on my brain. Every morning I have woken up at 4am, walked 1 mile in the woods before sun-up and set up in various locations trying to score a good buck I have on trail camera. Mature Whitetails are extremely challenging to bring into bow range. Some sits have produced deer sightings, some haven't. I went on a 3 day stretch this week where I didn't see a single deer.....BORING! But, if you don't have patience and persistence you will never be a good archery hunter. I would love to shoot a big buck every year, it just doesn't always happen that way. So I get to a point in the season where if a legal buck walks my way he's dead. This year I held off till the last 2 days, knowing I had all day today and tomorrow morning to fill the freezer. Well after passing 9 different legal bucks up this season and missing a good 8 point, I settled on the smallest legal deer you can kill in my county, a half rack 4 point ! The size of this deer was good, and if his other side wouldn't of been busted off due to fighting he could be a mid-size rack for around my parts. He was searching for does around 8:15am and a few sounds with the grunt tube pulled him into bow range. He didn't present me a good shot so I took what I had, A SPINE SHOT. These are tricky shots but when placed right are deadly. He fell in his tracks and died shortly after. It wasn't the size of rack I had hoped for, but I always feel a sense of accomplishment filling my buck tag, I now have extended my streak to 9 straight years, only 1 of those years I had to fill it in rifle. Time to fish  

Things are starting to heat up in the woods

I finally took a break from fishing and got to spend some time in the woods this week. I expected some October Lull conditions but was pleasantly surprised to see the woods littered with fresh rubs and scrapes. I saw 1 smaller 6 PT with his nose to the ground on Monday evening at 4:30pm. In a different location this morning I passed on another medium size 6 PT. He was acting pre-rutty, checking rubs and licking branches with his nose to the ground. No doe sightings but I'm ok with that. It's October 24th, so things should start to get better each passing day. It seems like the smaller bucks are becoming more visible in the daylight hours, hopefully the bigger guys will start showing themselves as well. I will be out all day tomorrow, hopefully a kill will be reported.

Laurel Highlands Hunting Report 10-13-14

Well the first full week of bow season has come and gone! Wow, things do move way too fast nowadays.  Well combined we only got out two mornings and two nights, and those outings amounted to about zero, zilch, nada.  So much for the first week success that has blessed us the past few years.  The deer seemed very tuned to the edge of light on both sides of the horizon, and it was does at that.  One thing is for sure - Saturday night, cool day - light wind - man it felt good to be out hunting.  I'll be checking in frequently so stay tuned.

Season Recap: Wasn't For Lack Of Trying

Andy's Long Awaited Archery Buck Kill

   The 6 week archery season came and went in a blink of an eye. To summarize things up, the deer outsmarted us this year. Buck sightings were way down all across the board as well as our kills. We only managed to fill 3 tags with the bows, Andy got the well deserved bragging rights with the only buck kill, a beauty 7 pointer that we had on trail camera most of the summer.

   Charlie Alsheimer was dead on with his rut predictions this year. (as well as the last 6) We experienced some good activity around the Rut Moon in mid October (Andy's buck had his nose to the ground) and also some decent activity the last few days of the season. Everything we experienced was very similar to what he described as being a "Trickle Rut." Billy and I also think our buck sightings were off back home because of the lack of "scrub racks" at the property we hunt. There was also a surplus of apples in a certain area that we don't hunt and that had the does concentrated down there for part of the season. Billy and my dad were the only 2 that saw good bucks (Besides Andy's Kill), early on Billy saw a good 8 point from the crossover and my dad saw the same buck in the field stand. Billy also got a glimpse of a 8-10 pointer in the Laurel Stand but a 300 pound black bear was why he got the sighting. I only managed to come home a few times but the deer eluded me each time I went out.

Nothing Beats An Archery Buck Kill

   Back at my place  area I had a brutal start to my season. I spent more time on stand this year than I ever have. I learned that I need to put the fishing rod down a little bit more in September and do some more scouting. I found myself hunting a plethora of new spots and it didn't pay off for me. I felt like I wasted a bunch of sits trying to discover the deer patterns and it was taxing on the mind. I did find a great crossing point for deer in one location but by the time I figured out where they traveled and the wind direction it was too late to connect. I passed up on a few mature does but only 1 scrub buck came into shooting range the entire season. The wind was my enemy this year for sure scaring off 2 shooter bucks, 1 at  and 1 at the farm.

   Gun Season is still around the corner but nobody in my family gets too excited about it. Although this year I think the rut activity may be better on the first day of rifle then what we saw in archery. My time in the woods will be limited for the rest of the year so if I don't get lucky my buck tag won't get filled. Let's hope My dad, brother and I get lucky in gun season.

Archery Update: Morning Blues

Sorry for the delay in between posts. The fly rod has temporarily been put away because my archery craze has set in. I went out every morning of the season so far and haven't scene a deer. Part of this is because I am hunting 2 new properties and it's taking time to figure things out. The weather hasn't been great either.....still feels too humid for October. I did mange to get out a few times in the evening also. Two night-time sits at the farm produced buck and doe sightings. I saw 4 doe one night but decided to pass on them. I hung a ladder stand over at the farm that is hopefully going to be a prime spot. I unfortunately jumped a big buck hanging the stand, but I know he will be back in time for the rut. I wish things would of been a little better this week but so it goes. The weather looks like it's going to break by the end of next week, hopefully it will trigger some more deer movement in my areas. Until then.......

Shooter in the Bushes!

First Cam pictures and one shooter already.

2012 Archery Recap

Well another archery season is down the tubes! I went out with Andy one last time this morning at the "Pinch Point." During our sit I had some time to reflect back at the 2012 season. Overall it was a below average year for taking down deer with the archery equipment. Only 4 deer ( 2 bucks, 2 doe) fell to the arrow ( 2 more with the smoke pole) and we spent A LOT of time in the woods. I was fortunate enough to take 3 of those deer down in 3 different locations and Billy knocked down a great 8 point on Halloween morning.

The first week of the season was pretty slow. I hunted pretty much everyday and the only deer a saw was a lone buck back home on the first morning. I had good pictures of a nice buck but ended up moving my stand after 5 hard days of hunting. I ventured back to my reliable honey hole and it produced numerous sightings the rest of the season. My friend Matt and I both hit bucks out of the "Gorge Stand" but never recovered them. He continued to see action throughout the remainder of the year and I ended up sticking a doe at the "Pinch Point" and also could of taken down a legal 6 point. My honey hole didn't disappoint and I can safely say I have a solid archery spot for years to come.

Back home Billy had a few sits where the does were out of range. The "Crossover" and the "Power Line" each produced some does but they were out of range each time. We decided to move the "Crossover" across the trail and it ended up being one of our best moves of the season. We had good action in that stand throughout the rest of the season and Billy ended up connecting to fill his buck tag. I saw a really nice shooter buck out of the "Oak Flats" in early November which is the only deer we saw out of that stand all year.


Andy and my Dad both had close calls with bucks but both will have buck tags going into gun season. "Dad's Stand" produced a crazy amount of buck sightings once the rut kicked into gear. 10+ in a two day span. The "Field Stand" also was in a good location as my Dad saw deer on numerous sits. The big boys eluded us this year but hopefully if my dad or Andy don't kill one in riffle they will live to next year. There are a ton of bucks back home and the future looks promising.

GoPro Doe Kill

Strapped the old GoPro Hero 2 to my crossbow on the morning of November 6th. Had a nice doe come into range and ended up filling my last tag of the season. Enjoy!

Archery Report 11-6-12

Well boys and girls I'm not sure if your a believer in the lunar/moon trigger to the rut controversy, but this guy is a believer!  This is the third year in a row I've been lucky enough to enjoy a week's vacation using the moon and Charles Alsheimer's prediction, and for the third year in a row he could not have been more accurate - even with SuperStorm Sandy as the dominant weather system in my hunting area.  Five days of soaking rain/sleet/snow.  Five days of bone chilling cold wind.  Five days of damn good hunting!  Luckily the wind never hit anything steady above 25mph so me and my brothers were able to hunt each and every day - albeit in uncomfortable conditions.  Toughing it out proved smart as I scored on my biggest archery kill to date, a nice, slighlty above average ridge 8 point buck.  All indications were it was a 10 point, but neither side actually had a brow tine - oh well - I am still happy!  This deer came in on a mission, nose to the ground in search of a new girlfriend, but unfortunately met up with a 100gr. Thunderhead from lung to liver.  The beauty and satisfaction of seeing them fall is icing on the cake. 
Beyond my success the buck sightings went off the charts as the week progressed, culiminating for me personally on Saturday.  I saw just an unbelievable number of bucks morning, afternoon, and night that day, including a real giant eight pointer that was on the move.
As this week dawns my dad and brothers are still at it, and from what I hear, buck activity is still above average right now.  This is the last week, so call off work and get out there - you'll be a believer too.

Archery Update: Does are falling rut is nearing

I was on a high after my 10 point kill but that still didn't stop me from getting in the woods Monday the 15th. Billy and I moved a few stands on Sunday and we both decided to get up in them the next day. The morning was overcast and slightly warm, my dad and I didn't see a deer. All three of us went back out in the evening. I got up in the new crossover spot and Billy went to Backside Laurel Stand. The wind was howling and tree limbs were falling. At around 5:45pm I thought about getting down from my stand it was that bad. I looked over to my right and 3 does were standing 10 yards from me. It was so windy and loud I didn't have to worry about movement or noise. I picked up my crossbow and sunk a lethal blow into her at 4 yards. This was by far my best 2 day stretch of archery season to date, who says there is an October Lull?

Billy and my Dad have been at it since then, both taking down does with the Muzzle Loaders this past week at a farm we have permission to hunt. All of us will be off next week for the Rut Moon on the 29th and a few days after. I would imagine another buck or 2 will go down in that time frame, the rut is kicking up and the weather looks like it's going to break just in time for next week. The first 4 weeks of archery/muzzy season has been good to us, 1 good buck and 3 does, still have 8 tags to fill.

The Perfect Hunt: 10 point Kill

I got a call Friday night from my buddy who had been seeing good bucks by his house out near the mountain area. I had hunted my Gorge Stand hard all week and decided it wouldn't be a bad idea to give it a break. Patrick only hunted this area a few times in the past and never in archery season so we were going into the hunt blind with no knowledge of significant deer trails or trees to climb.

On the drive in we bumped up a decent buck bedding in the field where we ended up parking. We got our climbers out of the truck and trudged uphill about 200 yards where the mountain leveled off. I went right, Patrick went left. I scanned the area as best I could with my headlamp and decided to pick a tree near some pine trees. Things didn't start off well, my climber was giving me issues and prolonged my attempt to get up the tree for about 10 minutes. I could see Patrick's headlamp about 75 yards below me and remember thinking we were going to be too close together. By 6:45 am I was finally situated in the tree and ready to roll. My phone vibrated and the message read "Another Hunter Just Walked Underneath Me." The morning wasn't going well at all, my confidence in the hunt went down to zilch and I looked beyond into the darkness wondering why I came.

At 7 am I glanced over my left shoulder and saw a siloutte walking up the trail. I blinked a few times to adjust to the light and noticed a good rack on his head! Without hesitation I knew this was a shooter buck. I slowly grabbed my crossbow from the hanger and set my pins on him. The buck was eating on the ground and had no clue I was there. I had time to take out my range finder.......25 yards on the dot. I put my head back down and looked through the scope. By this time the buck figured out something was up and started sniffing into the air. I put the pin on his neck and pulled the trigger, WHAM dropped him in his footsteps! After 35 minutes I got down to the ground and sat next to my biggest buck to date, a really good 10 point. This guy had 3 points on his right side and 7 points on his left side.

After a long summer of trying to locate deer and hang tree stands this hunt reminded me you just never know what is going to happen when you get into the woods. I am extremely happy with the kill and want to throw a shout out to Ole McChesney for putting me on a great buck. My buck tag is filled early and man does it feel good. The rest of the fall will be a little bit more relaxing with this guy under my belt. I will continue to hunt doe's, I still have 2 of those tags to fill. I hope I can help scout for my dad and brothers also, they still have a long season to go but what a way to start the killing season off for us all!

Chomping At The Bit:

I was able to get out on 2 morning sits this week. Tuesday I was able to hunt till 10am in the "Gorge Stand." After getting winded on Saturday in my climber I decided to locate my ladder stand on the other side of the logging road where I saw the 2 deer. Well, right at 7:15 am I saw a big body 75 yards below me walking the trail. He was headed right up too me and the wind was perfect. I took a closer look at his rack and decided he was worth taking, average 7 point by mountain standards but I was chomping at the bit. I took aim at 32 yards......and looked up to see a branch moving up and down! I let my excitement get too me and should of waited for a better shot, that time in the morning gives out bogus light at that range and it bit me in the ass. I went down and grabbed my arrow, no blood. I was a bit angry with myself but decided to get back up in my tree. Around 9:30 am a small 4 or 6 point came through the field and headed up into the pines. On the way out I was looking at the ground and stumbled across some blood! I guess I ended up clipping the buck with my arrow on ricochet. I tracked it for about 100 yards but the buck was heading up hill and after the 100 yards the blood was very scarce. I am sure he will live to see another day, I hate situations like that in archery, I'll take my experience and learn from it.

I got back up into the same stand this morning (10-11-12) not expecting to see anything because of the commotion I caused on Tuesday. The weather was perfect, 30 degrees and clear skies. No deer moved through the areas from 7am-8am but 15 minutes after 8 I caught a glimpse of a big deer on the field edge. It moved into the woods rather quickly and I didn't see what it was, I got the feeling it was another buck. I haven't scene a doe all season, I will be heading out tomorrow morning, might try a different spot.

Archery Report 10-11-12

Two more nights in the stand, two more deer sightings, but not shots.  Tuesday night was a beautiful evening to be in the woods, but I only caught a glimpse of two does feeding away from my stand.  It seems like the acorns aren't dropping as much, so maybe that food source is going to be at it's highest right now.  I think the lack of deer movement we have been experiecing is contributed at least in part to the never ending supply of acorns in Penn's woods this year.  Maybe signs of a bad winter to come?  Who knows, but I believe in nature letting us know, and if the hatches on stream this season are part indicator, EARLY is the word.  I believe in it so much I'm betting a week's vacation on an early rut.  I guess if I'm wrong - tag soup for the long winter. 

Wednesday night I decided to hit the crossover stand one more time, it had rained all afternoon, then cleared right at 3:00pm, and by the time I climbed up it was sunny, but windy.  I got my first buck sighting of the year - a lowly three point.  In the old days he probably would have been toast - but regulations and personnal goals are two reasons he walked away.  Two days til antlerless muzzleloader comes in, hopefully the action will be good on Saturday.

Archery Report 10-9-12

Sorry to wait so long in posting, unfortunately not a lot to report.  The first week came and went with well above average temperatures and I hunted zero with a busy schedule at work.  The second Saturday dawned rainy and cold, but a doe let me draw back on her at least - too bad it was a head on shot and she busted me prior to turning.  Yesterday, Monday October 8, found me on top of an oak covered knoll with excellent temperatures, crunchy leaves, and some added visability through the foliage.  The evening started off great with many turkey sightings.  Twilight was near, and the flock started making all kinds of noise roosting into a giant white oak.  Soon after that disturbance, more noise from the same place - only this time it was a group of 5 does.  Unfortunately for me the lead doe is big and SMART, she hit my scent trail and went BESERK for twenty minutes.  She must of only got a small whiff, because she was up and down and up and down snorting for a very long time, never busting the stand.  It might be funny if I already had a deer hanging from the meat pole!  Oh well, back at it tonight - report to follow.

Archery Update

This past week I found myself waking up early and hunting late. I spent the majority of the week hunting both mornings and evenings in a stand I hung earlier in September. "The Choppins" looked promising and I had multiple pictures of a good buck early on in September. The week had above normal temperatures and sightings were zilch! I decided to relocate my stand on Sunday to my honey hole. I hunted in the "Gorge" Saturday morning and had 2 deer wind me around 7:15am. Hopefully during my sits this week the new location will produce sightings. The weather couldn't be better as a cold front has settled in for a few days. I'll keep my fingers crossed.......

And So It Begins.........

Archery season has finally arrived! The temperatures are finally cooling off, leaves are changing and this time of year you will find the Grobe family scattered around Southwestern PA in tree stands. The opening day of archery was this past Saturday. I was only able to hunt in the morning but my first sit of the season brought a decent 7 point around "Dad's Stand" around 7:45am. The 2 year old buck marched around plucking Acorns off the ground, he presented multiple shots but I decided to let him live in hopes of tagging a bigger, more mature buck as the season goes on. This stand is located in a prime feeding area, thousands of acorns are all over the ground and continue to fall daily. It is only a matter of time before one of us fills a tag in this honey hole. My brother Billy sat in the "Oak Flats" and Dad hunted the "Powerline" stand. Each saw small bucks, dad a 4 point and Billy another 4-5 point. All together is was a very productive morning. All three of us went out Monday night. Billy had 3 does wonder past the Oak Flats presenting no shots. My dad and I saw nothing.

Early Season Trail Cam Pics: He lives

 

Billy and I put out the cameras last week. We pulled the memory cards and were delighted to see our big 10 point from last year lived through the gun season. We think he has declined in mass and width from the previous season but he is still a 130 class buck. Billy has gotten 4-5 shooters in just under 10 days with another nice 8 point in the bottom picture, unfortunatly for me this nice size black bear is all I have to brag about. It looks like we should be in for another good season out at Billy's, I will have to move my camera around and locate some nice bucks up here in the mountains for the time being.

Matt's Archery Score

A few pic's of Matt's November 11th archery eight pointer.

Archery Report: Clutch Tree

With the season coming to a close on Saturday I only had one last chance to put in a good day of hunting for the year. That day was yesterday, the "Rut Moon" as archery hunters like to call it. This day has brought me luck in the past so I decided to try and test my luck at TSI one last time. The morning started off rough.....as I walked into the "Oak Flats" I jumped 3-4 deer, one being a big buck, the closest I have come to horns all year. I still got up into the tree in hopes of some sightings. At around 7:15am the first horns of the year popped up over the sawmill. I couldn't get a good luck at him through the brush but when I let a grunt call go he walked the other way and I assumed he was a smaller buck. By 8:30am I was getting bored and decided to take my climber below the hill where I saw that buck. When I crested the hill a 4 or small 6 point was standing on the main trail looking at me. He spooked but ended up coming back before I got up in my climber. He spooked one last time and I didn't see another deer. I got down around noon and decided to hit my money spot for the afternoon and evening.

I got into the "twin tree" around 1pm. I have shot 1 nice buck out of this tree and two others very close by in the last few years. Right when I was about to call it quits I saw a deer in the field to the left of me. He started walking down the trail then veered off to the field. I let out a few grunts and doe bleats and he came right up too me. I got a look at his rack to make sure he was legal......at this point in the season as in years past I made a commitment to fill my buck tag in archery rather then mess around with riffle season. Since I had no opportunity to get a bigger buck this season....let alone see a shooter buck I quickly decided to take him. He spooked a bit when he got close, but he then quartered away at 25 yards and I let an arrow fly. I knew I hit him but wasn't sure how good. He ran about 40 yards and stopped. While watching him another buck which was much bigger (that's how my season has gone) came out of the same spot and started walking around. I loaded my crossbow again thinking I didn't get a good hit on my other deer. By the time I looked back to locate the bigger buck mine had laid down. So I watched the bigger buck put his nose to the ground and walk off. I climbed down, went up to my deer and he wasn't in the same spot. I looked to the left and he was laying there but not dead. He then jumped and ran off. My brother and I went back out to track him, saw where he was laying and left him for the night. Got there this morning and he was dead.....but coyotes got to him first!!!! his butt was eaten away but we still gutted him and took him home. Not sure if we are going to eat the meat or not....kind of weird that another animal at him for breakfast. Anyway, I am this is the 5th year in a row I filled my buck tag in archery.... Can't say enough about this place there were lots of bucks out there this year, just took A TON of time in the woods this year for it to pay off for me.

Archery Report: 11-05-11

My whole family has been at it hard the last week in the woods. I have been hunting almost every morning and a few evenings....all I have to show for it is 1 doe sighting and 1 dead doe. It felt really good to finally fill one of my tags. I have been hunting at Ohiopyle and the new property I got access too. I have seen lot's of sign but not enough deer. I'm not sure what is going on this year, I may have to reconsider where I'm hunting. My brothers have had an amazing past few days. They have scene at least 10-12 shooters, each came close to kill's but the bucks eluded them. My dad has the bragging rights so far, shot a MONSTER non-typical 17 point out of Andy's stand on November 1st. He was chasing a doe at 5:45pm, my dad grunted to him and he came right up. This is by far the biggest deer any of us have ever killed, needless to say he will be on the wall in a few months! The rut seemed to be kicking in earlier in the week and may have died off just a bit the last few days. The RUT MOON is on Thursday of this week so we will see if that sparks any action my way.