The River Bottom Trail

The River Bottom Trail is the thread that runs through much of the land I hunt.  The trail winds along the river bottom connecting Stonehenge, The Creek Bottom Trail, The Horseweed field, and points beyond.  It runs for miles and miles along a wooded corridor bordered by wide forested stands of the Hoosier National Forest, and private property composed of mostly hay fields, and dense thickets.

For most of the year the trail seems to be travelled by only raccoons, possums, and coyotes.  But, when the months of October and November roll around the trail is used by different travelers.

Over the years the trail has showed me how genetics and disbursement play out in the whitetail woods.  For instance, five years ago one of my camera's snapped a chance picture of a large eleven pointer with an extra main beam at Stonehenge.  I never saw the deer again.  Last year, however, his genes showed up four miles down the river in a nice two year old deer.  The first picture of any deer like him my cameras had taken, even though I had covered the area around Stonehenge with them every year since.  

Two years ago a mature six pointer with a deformed right beam showed up on one of my cameras.  This was the second picture of this buck my camera's had taken.  Four years earlier I got a picture of him in the exact same spot when he was a year and a half old deer.  Last year I got a picture of another young buck with the same type of deformed right antler.  This buck was over six miles away up a wooded draw that runs off the river bottom trail.

From now through December, or until I tag out with a mature buck I will go into my scent control strategy.  All of my clothes will be washed in scent free soap, I will shower with scent free soap and shampoo, and my deoderant will be scentless as well.  I haven't tried this before, so I am hoping it will help me in the deer woods. 

My hunting clothes will be sprayed with scent eliminator on the outside and on the inside and stowed away in a container with cedar branches.

Let's hope all this is worth it.  I'm not holding out for a monster, I just want a good solid mature buck!  Plus a couple of does for the freezer.

Sometime this coming weekend I will find the time to make my way to Stonehenge.

The Hillside Thicket

The hillside thicket is one of those places we can hunt even late in the season and expect to see deer.  The place is remote, steep, and thick.  Kevin scored first here two years ago on a nice nine-pointer.  It took four people a half-day to get the deer out.  Last year both Kevin and I saw good bucks while hunting here, but Kevin had already shot a buck, and I couldn't get a good shot.

Last year I hunted here on the afternoon of opening day and saw some hunters hauling out two big bucks on four-wheelers.  Needless to say my hunt felt ruined but I stayed in the stand anyway.  About an hour later a nice eight-pointer, about the size of the one in the picture above walked right past me, but I let him go.  Every couple of years we have to deal with other people riding through on four-wheelers, but a call to the game warden or the U.S. Forest Service office typically takes care of the problem.  I don't feel good about calling, but I feel even worse when a noisy machine ruins my hunt.  I spoke with a game warden about this.  "Please call."  He told me.  "It's illegal for them to ride on public ground, it's not fair to the legal hunter, and usually we don't know about it unless somebody tells us."

The buck in the following two pictures was killed on a private farm over three miles away the day after the pictures were taken.

I doubt I will put my trail cameras here this year.  There is plenty of public land I want to learn about -- I just have to find the time to go there.