LAST UPDATED: May 8th, 2015
Wow, I can’t believe tomorrow is October 1st already! First the Wisconsin archery season snuck up on me and already it’s been nearly three weeks and now Illinois is going to open up. Where does the time go??
Opening weekend in Wisconsin I headed up to my favorite hunting spot with Justin along to do some filming for me. Between Justin and his cameraman Mike, myself, and staff member Josh Fletcher we’re really working hard at documenting our season on film and putting up new videos every week. We want to show you the good and the bad of our seasons, and all of the gear we use to help us be successful. If you haven’t already checked out our vidoes, including some great reviews on the bowhunting gear we sell, click here to take a look.
That first weekend was hot, temperatures were in the 80’s and Justin and I defintely weren’t ready for that! Our first morning was pretty exciting as we had a nice buck sneak up on our position but unfortunately due to the thick cover Justin wasn’t able to get any footage of him. Just being able to see a nice buck on that first sit really sets the tone for the season though.
During the afternoon on Saturday we checked a bunch of trail cameras that I had set out in some of my best buck spots. Much to my amazement, we didn’t have many bucks to show for our efforts! We had a lot of does, but not a lot of bucks. It just goes to show what a big roll food plays in the location of these bucks early season. With not a lot of food in these spots there just aren’t any bucks right now. But once mid-October hits and these bucks start checking out the resident doe groups they seem to magically appear out of nowhere.
One of the new cameras I’m currently testing out, the new Moultrie Game Spy i45. So far I’ve been pretty impressed with the quality of this camera, and am looking forward to trying out the cellular feature that sends photos to a website so I can view them from home. You can purchase these cameras in our online store by clicking here.
Our first evening hunt was extremely uncomfortable as we were directly in the sun and in full camo after trimming some shooting lanes we were HOT! But we survived and saw a lot of deer, but once again didn’t get any good footage of them due to the thick cover.
After hanging some new stands on Sunday afternoon we got back out that evening and sat over a bean field were all the action was at the previous day. We certainly weren’t disappointed and saw nearly 20 deer this evening, and Justin was able to get some really good footage of a nice 2 1/2 year old buck that came out in front of us. I did have a shot at one doe that night, and believe me I wanted to put my new NAP Blood Runner to the test, but with the hot temperatures and a 3 hour drive home in front of us I elected to pass. Although in hindsight I wish I would’ve taken the shot. Oh well, that’s hunting I guess!
The first of many videos documenting the 2009 season of the Bowhunting.com staff.
My next trip to Wisconsin was this past weekend and I had some more great encounters. Without a cameraman I was filming myself and really trying to work out the bugs in my camera setup to make sure things are right for when it’s crunch time. I managed to get some great footage of a few small bucks sparring, and had another opportunity at a doe but with camera light fading I once again elected to pass her up. I’m confident that when the time is right, and the camera is rolling, I’ll be able to harvest a few deer later this fall.
A couple pieces of new gear I’m using for this fall that I’ve been really happy with is the new ScentBlocker Freak Nasty suit. Both the jacket and the pants are very well built and have a LOT of pockets to organize all of my gear. They’re light enough to wear when it’s warm out, and loose enough to layer under for some of these colder mornings we’re having. All in all, I really like this new suit and think it’s pretty close to the perfect bowhunting gear. Check it out at this link.
Justin walking back to the truck after our 1st morning’s hunt. He is also using the ScentBlocker Freak Nasty suit and really likes it.
With the Illinois season opening tomorrow you can bet I’ll be back in the woods shortly, so stay tuned for some more photos and new videos each week!
Geared up and ready to go, bring on October!
