2020 Missouri Opening Morning

We had lots of rain predicted for opening day. When I got up it was not raining. I decided to head out to my ladder stand South of the house. About 100 yards from the stand it starts to rain. I changed course and headed to the new tower stand we had built for my brother who was apparently sleeping in due to the forcast. I did not see a thing until around 8 AM. Turkeys have been pretty scarce around here with a bad hatch the last two years. Well at around 8 AM I had six jake's file into the end of the food plot. I had been watching them for probably fifteen minutes when a doe arrived followed by her almost full grown fawn, with a spike following then. The doe and spike just passed through the food plot without eating anything. I think the spike was interested in the doe more than food. The smaller doe decided it was breakfast time and stayed to eat for probably an hour. Then all at once she figured out that the other two deer were gone. She did some frantic searching with her nose and lined out on their trail. Other than some crows that showed up overhead in the trees for a couple minutes that was about it. It was interesting to watch the low spots in the trail turn into water holes as the rain fell.

It is now Sunday Morning. The rain has been replaced with a strong wind. I decided to go to Church and wait till this evening to hit the tree stand again.

I worked up a load using the 160 FTX bullet for the 308 Marlin Express in my 7.62x54R Encore. I did not get time to test the bullet for penetration and expansion. I did however get a brand new Facler Water Box made and armored up to take the abuse of the Encore rounds.

More to come.

Bob R

It was a truly nasty day to hunt. For several months I've had deer all around and sleeping in my front field. Last week there was a ten pointer in my yard tracking several doe plus several smaller bucks. Season opens and I haven't seen a deer, go figure.

Sunday Evening.
The wind has let up a little. I decided to hunt the wife's tower stand. I heard something in the woods North of the stand around 4:30, but I never spotted what made the noise. At around 4:40 I spot a Six Point with a doe. They cross the fence into the pasture on the up hill side of the pond. They were out approximately 100 yards. I Counted Coup on both of them multiple times as they went South across the pasture. I called the wife, and she was already watching them. She told me a fork horn had went across the pasture before them. I missed seeing that one.
About the time these two got out of sight I have a parade of does coming into the pasture up the same trail the buck and doe traveled. I counted nine of them before it got too dark to see.

I just replaced my North fence. We cleared about 50 feet on the neighbors side of the fence. I noticed that several of the deer were not real comfortable jumping the fence, and were also having trouble finding a place to crawl under. I will fix that tomorrow. I will take the bottom wire out between two fence posts where the old road went into the field. I did not put a gate back in so far. They had a good place to go through the wire beside the gate before I put the new fence up.

I decided that I had better drive to my brothers stand location to scare the deer off the food plot so he could get down. I was correct. He had seen a four point, and a six point with a doe, I am sure that was the same three deer that had went across the pasture that I had seen earlier. He also had does show up from all directions into the food plot.

Not a shot fired between us, but we did get to see a lot of deer well within handgun range.

Bob R

BOB, GOOD REPORTS, THANKS

Monday
I headed to the wife's tower stand a little late. I flushed two deer off headed up the trail to the pasture on my way to the stand.
At 8:15 I spotted a buck moving North down hill from my stand probably 130 yards out. A good guess would have been a younger 10 point. Where he was at I only had a logging trail at an angle to see him in the clear in. Not enough time to get on him before he was back in the trees. At 8:38 I spotted a lone doe moving West across the fence to my North. I watch her for close to an hour. She ended up bedding down about 100 yards out from my stand.

Monday Evening the wife was back in her Tower Stand, and I was in a Double Wide Ladder Stand on the South West corner of our property. We did not hear many shots, and did not see a deer.

Bob R

Good thing it's just getting started. Waiting a report from the 7.62x54R.

Keep at it. If your area is anything like here, the deer are really starting to move.

Tuesday
I beautiful clear morning. I decided to check out the new Tower Stand and see if the morning Sun was a problem. The normal route in to the stand is off the gravel county road. I have the top two strands of barb wire set up with a spring loaded attachment point so that they can be opened up for access. The third strand down is barbless barb wire with a 1/2" PEX pipe over it mainly to locate the crossing in low light.
Well I did not go in that way. I walked down to the valley floor like I was going to the Double Wide Ladder Stand on the South West side of the property then took the trail East up the valley to the food plot the tower stand is in. I had to abort. I spotted deer in the food plot while I was still over 100 yards out from it. I back tracked to the Double Wide Ladder Stand. It was a nice cool quiet morning with very little wind for a change. Things were pretty quiet until 8:18 when I heard what I thought was probably a squirrel coming up behind me in the woods. I was mistaken it was a young doe. She came by the stand about 35 feet out to my left. She was eating acorns while crossing this small field. I had cleaned off an old burned down dozer pile and seeded it with Rape and Alfalfa a couple months back. She went over and checked it on the way through. It is pretty well eaten down to nothing.
Around 9:00 I heard lots of noise in the leaves behind me. This time I am sure the big buck is coming along after the doe. I was wrong again, this time it was a squirrel seeing how much noise it could make.

My wife went to her Tower Stand in the morning. She had a doe feeding by in the woods going West, and three does passed her stand together. No bucks to be seen.

Afternoon:
I did not hunt in the afternoon. I changed the Oil on my Wrangler and the wife's 2500 RAM truck she pulls her horse trailer with. I also made an appointment to get the older RAM 2500 farm truck in the shop to have the water pump changed out. Having the water pump out on the farm truck and having the Polarus Ranger in the shop waiting on parts is not handy during deer season.

I work the next three days at the hardware store. More to come next Saturday when I will have time to get in the woods again.

Bob R